Following Fate
by miller26e
Summary: Two years after their last encounter, Jess has finally moved on. What happens when the he crosses paths with the Huntzbergers again? Will he finally get to see how the other half lives? Rogan, Jess/OC, Lorelai, and the gang!
1. Wicked Witch of the West

Hey guys! I'm back with the sequel to _How It Was Supposed to Be_. Please read and tell me what you think!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. If I did own it, do you really think I would be writing on here? Didn't think so...**

* * *

"Hello?"

"Um...hi. Is Jess there?"

"No he's not. Can I take a message?" the woman asked.

"Yeah. Can you just tell him to call his uncle back, preferably not when he knows I'm at work?"

The woman laughed, "Sure. I'll make sure that he does."

"Okay," Luke hesitated, "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" the other line said chipper, before hanging up.

'That was strange,' he thought.

* * *

"Lu-ke!" called Lorelai.

"Yeah?"

She came into the living room looking completely frazzled.

"I need you to give me about a gallon of coffee. Pronto."

"Why would you want to rot out your insides?" he asked.

"Because too much alcohol would kill me," Lorelai answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

At Luke's perplexed face, she explained further, "My mother is coming today. To Stars Hollow and I need something to take the edge off. And like I said, too much alcohol would kill me."

She paused for a second, "You know what, scratch that. I still need to find my shoe."

Luke watched amused as Lorelai ran around the house in a frenzy, looking for her other shoe.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Oh no! The Wicked Witch of the West has landed her broomstick," Lorelai exclaimed, "Where is my other shoe?"

"Did you check the oven?" Luke asked.

"The oven!"

Lorelai quickly ran into the kitchen and opened the oven, just as the doorbell rang for the second time.

"Ah ha! Here it is! Thank you, thank you!" she kissed Luke before opening the front door.

On the doorstep was a very upset-looking Emily.

"Lorelai! Do you know how rude it is to make your guests ring the doorbell more than once?"

"Hello to you too mom and just so you know, you are not my guest."

"Excuse me?" she asked, "You invited me here Lorelai."

"No, you invited yourself here, remember? At last week's dinner, you asked me what I was doing this weekend. I said, 'I'm going shopping for the inn.'"

Emily interrupted, "I did no such thing!"

But Lorelai just continued to talk over her, "Then you said, 'That sounds like fun. I'll come with.'"

Her mother just sighed, "Are you finished Lorelai or do you want to continue with your babbling?"

With that, Emily turned and made her way back to her car.

Lorelai looked back at Luke and raised her eyebrow, "Hey, you okay? It looks like you're in deep thought."

"I'm fine. I'll talk to you about it later, okay?"

She was still uncertain, but she let it go.

"Okay."

Lorelai looked towards her mom and saw that she was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Do you think if I pour a bucket of water on her, she'll melt?"

Luke chuckled, "Why don't you ask her?"

Giving her husband one last kiss, she took off for the car.

Before Luke closed the front door, he heard:

"Hey mom, can I throw a bucket of water on you?"

"Excuse me Lorelai?"

Luke just chuckled again before closing the door all the way.

* * *

All morning he was distracted by the woman's voice. He really had wanted to talk to Lorelai about it, but she had enough to deal with.

He really tried to forget about it, but he couldn't help asking himself, 'Why is a woman answering Jess's phone?'

* * *

**There is the first chapter! I know it is short and there is no Rory/Logan and barely any mentions of Jess, but I had a hard time figuring it out how to start this story. I figured that you can't go wrong with some Lorelai/Emily interaction (at least I hope not!). Truthfully, I really don't like this chapter. I mean, I love Lorelai, but I just don't really like the way it went. Please review! It would mean an awful lot to me...**

**Just so everyone knows, updates are not going to be as quick as the last story. Before, I had_ How It Was Supposed to Be_ completely finished, so all I had to do was edit and update. Also, when I update is going to depend on how much time I have and whether or not I have any ideas for the story. There will definitely be an update tomorrow morning (hopefully!), but after that, I won't have access to my computer for a week. Just as long as people are reading, I promise to keep updating as often as I can!**

**I'm also going to try another thing that I have seen other authors do. A****t the end of every chapter I'm going to ask a question that I would like you to answer in your review. (You don't have to, but I'd like it.) The questions will probably stay in the Gilmore Girls category, but you never know!**

**Question: _What is your favorite Gilmore Girls scene?_**


	2. Needing a Vacation

I really hope that this still counts as updating in the morning! I've actually been super busy today. First, with getting ready for our Halloween party and then I had to go to my sister's soccer game. Anyway, while I'm thinking about it, Happy Halloween everyone!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and put this story on their story alerts! I know some people didn't really like the first chapter, and I completely agree with you. I just found it difficult to start this story, but I hope you like the upcoming chapters!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. I do however own my own characters...**

* * *

"Rory! Anybody home?" a voice called.

"In the backyard!" she answered.

A few seconds later, Stephanie appeared. She was holding the hand of a little girl.

"Hey girly!"

"Hey Steph! What brings you here?"

She shrugged, "I don't know...boredom? Can I just lounge by the pool with you?"

"Sure," Rory turned her attention to the little girl.

"Hey Becca! Do you want to jump in the pool with Ellie?"

Becca nodded. Stephanie helped her take off her cover-up, before she waded into the shallow part of the pool.

Rebecca Anne McCrea was the daughter of Stephanie and Colin. They had gotten married in Las Vegas a couple of months before Rory and Logan's wedding.

Their parents were displeased with their shotgun-type wedding, but they didn't really care. Rory, Logan, and Finn were their witnesses, so they could handle their parents.

Angry best friends were way worse than angry parents.

Becca was born three months after Ellie and is an only child.

"Where is your other munchkin?" asked Stephanie.

"Bradin's asleep upstairs," she motioned to the baby monitor that was on the table next to her.

"He's actually taking a nap?"

Rory just laughed, "Yeah, it took me a little while, though. I can't wait until he turns three, no more 'terrible twos'."

Stephanie raised her eyebrows, "Hun, you do realize that his birthday's nine months away, right?"

"Yeah, I do. He has grown up so fast," she sighed.

The blond's eyes widened, "Oh no! Just because I am a mom and your my best friend, does not mean I am going to get all sentimental with you."

Rory raised her hands in defense, "Okay, okay. I'll stop."

"Thank you," she paused, "We need a break. Since when have we been the girls that sit around the pool getting all sentimental about their kids?

"Uh...since now?"

All of a sudden, Stephanie jumped out of her chair.

"I have a fabulous idea!"

"What is your fabulous idea?"

"Let's go to Vegas!"

Rory started cracking up, until her insides hurt.

"Thanks Steph, I needed that. Vegas? Nice one," she continued to laugh.

"I'm serious girly. When was the last time you had a vacation?"

"Well-," but she stopped. She realized that she couldn't remember the last time she had gotten away.

"Exactly! We could go for a week. The whole gang can come: you, me, Logan, Colin, and of course, Finn.

"But we've got work and kids. Remember yours? She has blond hair, green eyes?"

"Hun, everyone, except for you, owns their own company. We can take time off whenever we want. Plus, your boss loves you. I'll bet you probably have fifty vacation days stacked up."

"Okay, but what about the kids?" Rory asked sensibly.

"Rory. You, unlike me, have a mother who loves and adores you. One that will have no problem watching her grandkids for the week."

Rory just sat there for a minute. She knew that a vacation would be good for her and Logan. And, to act like college kids again would be nice. Although, another thought came to her.

"Steph, what about your kid? You said it yourself, I am the only one with a loving mother. Are you really going to leave Becca with yours?" she inquired.

Stephanie's voice took on a serious tone, "Rory, you know I love Becca. She is my princess, my angel, she is my baby. You know that I would never leave her with that woman."

"Okay, but that still doesn't solve the problem," Rory interrupted.

"Did I ever tell you about Millie?" the blond asked.

"Your nanny from when you were young?" Rory asked confused.

Stephanie giggle at Rory's obvious disgust of the word "nanny".

"Yeah, that's her. Growing up, she was like my mom. She started as my nanny when she was eighteen and I was eight weeks," she sighed, "Anyway, I loved her to death. She stopped being my nanny when I turned sixteen. She had gotten married and I didn't really need her anymore."

Rory looked at her friend sympathetically. She knew it was hard for people like Stephanie to need anyone other than their friends.

Stephanie's voice took on a brighter tone when she continued, "Over the years, we kept in touch. She was at both my high school graduation and my college graduation and, besides you guys, she was the first to know that I was married. When Becca was born, Millie told me that whenever I needed anybody to watch her, she would be happy to."

"But," Rory interjected, "does Becca even know Millie? I mean, I doubt you want to leave her with somebody who is a complete stranger, at least to her."

To Rory's surprise, her best friend just brushed it off, "Becca has met Millie loads of times. She loves her too."

'As usual, Steph has all of her bases covered,' the brunette thought silently.

She tried one last thing, "What if the guys don't want to come?"

Now it was Stephanie's turn to laugh uncontrollably.

"Your kidding, right? Girly, Finn's probably already packed. As for the other two," she grinned mischievously, "well, they've got us to convince them."

Rory finally sighed in defeat, "Las Vegas, here we come."

* * *

**I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I decided to add in Stephanie because I always like reading about her friendship with Rory in all the other fanfics that I have read. Remember, I will not be able to update until either next Saturday or Sunday. Sorry, but my mom's going out of town and I'm going to my dad's. I will however have access to the internet, just not the computer where I have all my chapters written. I will try to write a lot this week, maybe (remember "maybe" does not always mean I will) update two chapters next week...Hopefully! Please review! I have loved all of the ones I have gotten so far. I'm glad that most of you seem to be enjoying it and I promise the story will pick up soon. If you have any suggestions, please tell me because, as of right now, I am still writing the third chapter. Thank you again for reading!**

**Last chapter's question was: _What is your favorite Gilmore Girls scene?_**

**My favorite scene is Season 7, Episode 5- "The Great Stink". It is when Logan surprises Rory by coming home from London and he tells her to go up to the roof to look at the meteor shower. When she does, he is up there and she runs into his arms. Then, they spend the rest of the night just laying in each other's arms while watching the stars. I love that scene because it is so sweet of Logan to surprise Rory and it always makes me smile. Also, it is one of their "good" moments, before they broke up. As you can probably tell, I am still extremely upset that Rory said no and Logan walked away....Anyway, here is this chapter's question:**

**Question:_ Who is your favorite Gilmore Girls character and why?_**


	3. Flashback

Hey guys! Thanks to those who reviewed! Your review and your input in the really puts me in a good mood! Author's Note at the bottom!

By the way, you may have noticed that I changed the title of this story. The first title was just something that I came up with really fast because I couldn't think of anything else and I needed a title to post this story. Hope you like the new one!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. I also do not North Carolina or Las Vegas. I wish I did though...if I did, I would totally make it into it's own country and be the ruler of it. Wow, okay I'm going to go see if that's even possible...**

* * *

The girls spent the rest of the morning getting their plans together. By the time Stephanie had to get back home, the jet was ready and the hotel was booked.

Now, Rory was working on her article while waiting for Logan to get home from work. Luckily, she was able to work from home, only having to go into the office every once and a while. Logan only worked on the weekdays and he rarely ever had to work past five.

She heard the front door close and a few minutes later, her husband walked into their bedroom looking exhausted. He flopped down onto the bed and closed his eyes.

"We finally bought that small paper in North Carolina. The owners finally accepted our offer."

Rory shut down her laptop and curled up next to Logan.

"I'm proud of you babe," she said.

Logan wrapped his arms around her, "It was no big deal. They were more willing to accept the offer when it came from me, I think that my father scares them."

Rory laughed, "Yeah, I know the feeling."

At first, the Huntzbergers didn't like Rory. Their reasons being that she wouldn't make a very good trophy wife.

That was one thing that they could agree on.

Over time though, things got a lot easier. Honor had always loved Rory, and slowly, Mitchum and Elias were also accepting of her.

Shira was a lot harder to get along with. Although, when she learned of Rory's inheritance, her resolve broke and she just had to like her.

Rory was never a Hayden. Sure, it was on her birth certificate, but nobody ever knew her as Rory Gilmore-Hayden. She was always Rory Gilmore, so imagine her surprise when her dad informed her that she was going to inherit all of the Hayden fortune. Her little sister, Gigi, had a trust fund set aside for her, but other than that, Rory got everything.

Of course, Lorelai saw this as an opportunity to "blow all their money while laughing evilly". Although, Rory saw this as opportunity to help calm the rough waters in her family.

She took the first chance she got to talk to her paternal grandmother. It was the day after her grandfather died. She knew that both her dad and Francine would be a wreck. Rory told her dad to go out and just blow off steam while she took care of her grandmother. She brought everything that was needed to have a true Lorelai Gilmore movie night.

Rory remembered that day perfectly.

* * *

_*Flashback*_

_Rory was walking up the steps to the front door of the giant mansion that was sprawled in front of her. It was probably three times as big as her other grandparent's house. She stood there for a few moments, trying to force herself to ring the doorbell. When she finally did, her little sister opened the door._

_A huge grin appeared on her face, "Rory! What are you doing here?"_

_Rory knelt down in front of her and engulfed her in a warm hug, despite all of the items in her hands._

"_I'm here to make you and grandma feel better."_

_Gigi, being four years old, just shrugged, "Okay. Nana is just sitting in front of the TV, but she isn't even really watching it. I know because the person said something really funny, but she didn't even laugh."_

_Rory handed a few bags to her so that she could carry them into the kitchen._

"_Well baby girl, hopefully the two of us can make her laugh. Can you show me where the kitchen is?"_

"_Uh huh," the little girl replied, "Nana! Rory's here to make you feel better!"_

_At first it was silent, then when the two sisters got to the dining room, Francine came into the room from the opposite direction. Her eyes went wide as saucers and her jaw hit the floor._

_She struggled to speak at first, until she composed herself._

"_Rory?"_

_Again she seemed like she was trying to find the right words, "What are you doing here?"_

_Rory sighed and looked the disheveled woman in the eye, "We are three girls, we have junk food, and we have movies. We are going to wallow."_

_Again, Francine struggled with her voice, "Wallow?"_

"_Yeah, wallow. You do it when you go through a breakup, or bad grades, or whenever something bad happens. I know that this isn't just something bad, this is a tragedy. But, wallowing...it helps," she closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she saw a shadow of a smile on Francine's face, so she continued, "It won't make the pain go away or fix the problem, but wallowing...it helps."_

_Francine stared at her for several more seconds before she said quietly, "The kitchen's this way."_

_That night, the three of them spent the night curled up on the couch, eating junk food and watching movies that tugged at their heartstrings._

_That is how Christopher found them the next morning, Gigi curled up in Rory's arms and his mother's arm was draped over the two of them, the both of them._

_*Flashback*_

* * *

Rory and Francine were really close now. She was way more laid back than Emily and in the eight years since that night, they formed a bond that was usually formed in the early years of a grandchild's life.

So, you could say that she was well-off. Well, more than well-off, she was a billionaire and everybody knows that billions of dollars equals the Huntzberger's love and affection.

She had not noticed that she had completely zoned out for the last five minutes, until Logan shook her out of it.

"Ace? You okay?"

She turned towards him and smiled, "I'm perfect."

His eyebrows were still creased with worry, which made Rory smile even wider at his concern.

"Are you sure? You were completely out of it."

"Trust me, I'm sure," she paused, "We're going to Las Vegas."

Logan's eyes snapped open in surprise, "What did you say?"

Rory sat up and straddled him, "I said we're," she planted a kiss on his neck, "going," she kissed his jaw, "to," she kissed his nose, "Vegas."

Rory finally kissed him right on the lips, a kiss that he eagerly responded to. Logan rolled her over so that he was on top and they spent the entire night in their bedroom, glad that they remembered to lock the door.

* * *

"How about a few balloons?" asked Taylor.

"No."

"Well, how about a sign? Just put it up in your window."

"Will it be a flashy sign?" Luke asked.

Taylor shrugged, "Of course! It has to catch people's attention. That is the point of having a sign in the first place!"

"Then, no."

Luke turned to refill customer's coffee cups while Taylor continued to follow him around the diner.

"Lucas, I have been way too tolerant with you over the years. Now, this is the Start of Summer Carnival and I would like if you would participate in it!"

Luke turned to face the town selectman, "Taylor, it is only the beginning of May. Summer doesn't even start for another month! I refuse to be apart of all this," he pointed towards the door, "Now out!"

"I'm not leaving until you agree to a sign!"

"Taylor," Luke growled.

"Fine," Taylor started towards the door, "but how are you going to feel when you are the only one without any decorations up?"

"I'll be filled with regret, I'm sure," he answered.

When Taylor finally left, Luke sighed in relief.

He heard the phone ring and he went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Luke."

Luke almost dropped the coffee pot in surprise at the voice on the other line.

* * *

**I know I haven't updated in what seems like forever! I haven't had access to the computer that I write on because my mom has been out of town...Hopefully this chapter will make up for my lack of updating. It is the longest chapter I've written so far.**

**Can you guess who was on the other line? I know that I kinda left you guys with a cliffhanger, but I've already got the next chapter more than halfway written! So, expect an update maybe next Thursday or over the weekend. I know...I'm saying you guys have to wait again, but I will not have access to my computer until then. The joy of having divorced parents, right?**

**Any questions/comments/suggestions? Please either leave them in your review or you can PM me cause I would love to hear your input!**

**Please review! I've noticed that I seem to have lost some readers...well I'm not exactly sure, but they haven't been reviewing. I'm not mad or anything, I just hope that this story gets better so that more people like it!**

**Last chapter's question was: **_Who is your favorite Gilmore Girls character?_

**Mine would have to be Kirk. He is completely hilarious and he really brings color to Stars Hollow. I especially love Cat Kirk (when Kirk named his cat Kirk and then things got crazy at his house!). I also love when he asks out Lorelai on a date in the second season (?). Oh, and when he gets blinded by the traffic camera and crashes Taylor's car into Luke's Diner. So funny!**

**Question: **_What is your favorite Lorelai/Rory moment?_


	4. Conversations and a Girlfriend

Hopefully you guys are liking the story. The amount of reviews that I have been getting are slowly dwindling, so maybe the story isn't good anymore? Please tell me your thoughts- in your reviews ;).

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show.**

* * *

_*Previously*_

"_Hello?"_

"_Hey Luke."_

_Luke almost dropped the coffee pot in surprise at the voice on the other line._

* * *

"Jess?"

"Who else? Why are you always surprised when I call you?"

Luke just shook his head at Jess's attempts to lift the awkwardness.

"Jess, weren't you supposed to call me when I'm not at work?"

"Oh yeah, Dani said something like that. Well, I'm busy later, so I decided to call you now."

"Dani?" Luke inquired. He assumed that this was the woman that he had talked to earlier.

"Yeah, Danielle. I think you talked to her yesterday. She's my girlfriend."

Luke heard something in Jess's voice that he hadn't heard in a long time. Could it possibly be happiness?

"Girlfriend? How long have you two been together? It must be at least a couple months if she is comfortable enough to answer your phone."

"Actually, it's been about a year. We're living together and everything."

"You're living together!" Luke exclaimed, "You're telling me this now?"

"Well, yeah. Sorry, but things have just been so busy lately. With publishing my book and planning the book tour. It's been crazy."

"Crazy or not, you still should have told me. I am you're uncle," he sighed, "So, tell me about the book tour."

"You know, it's just your average tour. We're going all over the country, coast to coast. The book has been selling out everywhere, so my editor says that it's going to be pretty huge."

Luke was silent for a minute, "Wow Jess. You really did it."

Jess replied, "Yeah, I guess I did. It feels good too."

The diner man smiled, "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks."

Luke waved to Caesar to indicate that he was to take over. He went into the storage room to escape the noise of the diner.

"Now, tell me more about...I think you said her name was Danielle. Is she coming on the tour with you?"

He heard Jess laugh on the other line, "You want to know about Dani? Well, let's see. She's beautiful. She is tall with long, wavy black hair and the most amazing green eyes."

Luke just listened to Jess talk about his girlfriend, glad that he actually seemed happy.

"Dani is an amazing photographer," he continued, "She just captures the beauty in everything she photographs. She even has her own studio called _D Studios_ and it is really well-known throughout California. Seriously, she is like the go-to girl if anybody needs anything photographed. Weddings, birthdays, parties, anything."

"Danielle seems amazing. I'm glad you found her," said Luke, "So, is she coming on the book tour with you?"

"Oh, yeah. She's coming with me. It's going to be a whole five months, just the two of us."

"Doesn't she have her job and stuff?" asked Luke.

"That's what I said at first, but she really wanted to come with me. She has partners back at the studio that will take care of things and she'll fly back once a month to make sure that everything is running smoothly."

Luke nodded before realizing that his nephew couldn't see him, "Good for you guys. Where is your first stop?"

"Uh," Luke could hear him shuffling papers on the other end, "well, it started a week and a half ago and we started in Seattle. Then, we went to Portland, then San Francisco, and now we are back in Los Angeles."

"Oh!" Luke exclaimed, "You have been busy. Sorry for doubting you. What cities are next, though?"

"Well, next is San Diego and then we go to Las Vegas. I haven't really thought past then."

"Nice schedule. Hopefully you'll get to hit the beach in San Diego and the casino in Las Vegas. Lucky man."

"Some would say I'm lucky," he chuckled, "Oh! One of the stops is in Hartford, so maybe we'll come down to Stars Hollow and I'll introduce you to Dani."

"I'd love that. Make sure you call again, okay?"

"Okay, and next time I will call when you are not at work.'

Luke chucked, "Good. Bye Jess."

"Bye Uncle Luke."

* * *

Luke walked out from the storage room to see Taylor talking rapidly to Lorelai, who was sitting at the counter with an amused smile on her face.

"Lorelai, it is your job as his wife to convince him to participate in town activities."

"Well, gosh Taylor. I guess my womanly ways just aren't enough anymore to convince him."

Luke chose this moment to interrupt their conversation, "Taylor, I thought I told you to get out."

Taylor turned to face him, "Luke, I merely was trying to get you more involved with the town."

"I feed the entire town," he replied incredulous, "Isn't that enough?"

"Well-," Taylor started, but Luke continued talking.

"Out Taylor! Now!"

With that, Taylor marched out, mumbling something about "ungrateful townspeople".

Luke turned to Lorelai who was clutching her stomach because she was laughing so hard.

"Did you...see his...face?" she asked, still laughing.

He chuckled as well, at both Taylor and at Lorelai.

When she finally was able to control her laughter, she looked up at Luke.

"Who was on the phone?" she asked.

"Oh. It was...Jess."

Lorelai's eyes widened in surprise, "Jess? Well...you were on the phone for a long time. Was it a good conversation?"

Luke thought about it for a moment. The conversation they had was probably one of the best that they had ever had.

"You know, it was. His book tour is going well and he even has a girlfriend, Danielle."

"I guess nobody will be pushing him into any lakes anytime soon," she quipped.

Luke chuckled, "You've got that right."

* * *

Jess had just hung up with his uncle. He liked their conversation, having Luke be proud of him always lifted his spirits, even if he never showed it.

He heard the door to their apartment open and close and Danielle walked in.

"It is so good to be home. No matter how much I love the fancy hotels, I love being back in LA."

She walked over to Jess and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi back."

He kissed her softly. She responded to the kiss with enthusiasm. They were in their own little world, just the two of them.

Dani broke off the kiss before it could go too far. She looked into his eyes, "I love you. You know that right?"

Jess smiled at her, "I love you too."

"Good," she kissed his nose, "Now, you have a book signing in an hour and you still have to get ready. Chop, chop."

"Okay, okay. I'm going," he turned back towards her, "You're so bossy."

"That's my job, babe. Now go!"

She practically pushed him to the door of their bedroom. While he was getting ready, Danielle was leaning on the door frame.

"Did you call him?" she asked.

He looked up at her, "Who?"

"You know who."

"Yeah I did. I got off the phone with him right before you got home."

She threw her hands up in the air, "And?"

"And...he's proud of me and he really wants to meet you," Jess smiled.

Danielle's eyes lit up with excitement, "He really wants to meet me? Like he really said that he wanted to?"

Jess walked over to her and grabbed her hands.

"Yep. I love you, so he's going to love you too.'

She sighed, "I hope so."

"I have to go. Are you coming or do you have to go to the studio?"

"I have to go check in with Jack and Amanda. To make sure that they haven't ruined my company with their bickering."

"Okay," he grabbed his wallet and phone. He turned to her and kissed her on the lips, "Love you."

She smiled, "Love you too."

Dani watched as he walked out the door. She loved him more than anything. When they first started dating, she was cautious, but the more that they both let down their defenses, the more she fell in love. He was pretty tight-lipped about his past and his family, but she was excited that she would finally get to meet the infamous Uncle Luke. She realized that she was happy.

'I've got to go pack for San Diego!' she thought while grinning like crazy.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Sorry if the characters seem a little out of character. Whatever is written just comes from how I see it in my mind. Also, I know I kind of made Jess happy, but I felt he kind of deserved it- at least in the beginning of the story. Danielle is my original character and I'm still deciding whether or not to create another one. I personally love Danielle (I am a little biased), so just prepare for her to be nice.**

**Please review! It would mean an awful lot to me. Tell you what, I get 7 reviews and I'll update as soon as possibly can. By the way, I LOVE long reviews. Just saying...**

**Last chapter's question: **_What is your favorite Lorelai/Rory moment?_

**My favorite is the beginning of the third season when Rory comes home from Washington D.C. The two of them run to each other and then they fall down, while laughing. Then, Lorelai starts saying, "Oh, but I got here early and there was nothing to do except feed gummy bears to the bomb-sniffing dogs, which, apparently, the United States government frowns upon." Yep. Love that scene.**

**Question: **_What is your favorite Luke/Lorelai moment?_


	5. Goodbye East Coast

Sorry that it took me so long to update! Life is crazy... So, I didn't get 7 reviews, only 5. It's okay though...I know not a lot of people have time to. I want to thank Avivush and Tott for their long reviews...it means so much to me!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. If I did I would obviously not be writing this story...**

* * *

"Hey kid."

"Hi mom. I need a favor."

"A favor? From me? Well, I don't know Rory. I've done an awful lot for you over the years. I mean, your bill for me raising you still hasn't been paid off, so I'm not sure if the higher powers would advise me to do you a favor."

"What if I told you that the favor involved your wonderful grandkids?" asked Rory.

"Well then I'd say screw the higher powers. What's up mini-me?"

"Logan and I are actually going to take a vacation and we need you to watch Ellie and Bradin."

Rory could picture her mom bouncing off the walls in excitement.

Lorelai's voice came through the phone eagerly, "Really, really, really? You're trusting little ol' me to watch your precious kids?"

Rory laughed, "As long as you don't give them too much junk food and keep them away from Al's Pancake World, then we're good."

"Since when has there been such a thing as too much junk food?" Lorelai cried, "Sweets, you've gone to the dark side."

"Whatever you say mom," Rory looked at her watch, "Crap! Sorry mom I have to go. I've got a meeting with my editor that I'm going to be late for unless I leave right now."

"No! Don't leave. I'm bored and I need someone to talk to. Everybody is at work..."

"Uh, mom? Why don't you have work?"

"Considering that I'm my own boss, I gave myself the day off. Hey, where are my grandkids?"

"At Stephanie's. Now, I really have to go. Bye mom."

"Wait-," Lorelai started, but Rory had already hung up.

Lorelai sighed and looked around the room. Realizing that she had nothing to do, she grabbed her purse, "I guess I should just go to work."

* * *

Rory was freaking out. She was having a full-blown, major freak out. It had been three days since she had called her mom to ask her to take the kids for the week. Now, it was the day that they were supposed to leave and she felt as if nothing was ready to go.

Rory and Logan had never left Ellie and Bradin alone with anyone else for an extended period of time. A few days here and there, sleepovers, visits to Stars Hollow, but they never left them alone for a week.

Rory heard Logan walk up behind her.

"All the kids' stuff is packed in the car and our suitcases are on the front porch for Colin and Stephanie to pick up on their way to the airport."

"We're missing something. What are we missing?" she turned to Logan, "Where are the kids?"

"In the car, buckled up and ready to go," he assured her.

Rory looked around the house one last time, "Maybe we shouldn't leave them. I mean, we can go another time, like when they're older."

He reached down and intertwined their hands, "Hey, everything is going to be fine. They are with Lorelai. Hun, they'll be fine."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"I'm ready," she brought down his face so that is was level with hers.

"I love you," she said before kissing him sweetly on the lips.

"Love you too," he replied, "We have to go now so that we don't hit traffic on the way down there."

They walked out of their house, hands intertwined.

Rory got into the passenger seat and turned to face her kids.

"Ready to go see Nana?" she asked.

"Yay! I can't wait to see her mommy!" exclaimed Ellie.

While her brother just said, "Yay! Nana!"

The drive to the Hollow was comfortable and by the time they arrived, both kids were fast asleep.

* * *

Lorelai had been waiting all morning for Rory to arrive. She woke up, had several cups of coffee, and then started few different tasks, all of which were abandoned.

Luke had already left for work and now she was trying to stay busy. It wasn't that she was nervous about watching her grandkids, she had done it plenty of times before, but they had never stayed with her for a week without Rory and Logan present.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway broke her out of her reverie. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it would jump out of her chest.

'Get a grip,' Lorelai thought.

She walked out to the front porch and folded her arms over her chest. She watched as Rory and Logan extracted both their kids from their car seats. At the sight of her grand children's sleeping forms, everything came flooding back to her. Everything that she had ever learned about raising kids, she learned from first-hand experience.

Lorelai visibly relaxed upon remembering that she had already done this once before and this would be a piece of cake. She walked down to their car to help them with their bags.

"Hello beautiful daughter of mine!" Lorelai chirped.

"Hey mom. Thanks again for doing this."

She scoffed, "Why are you thanking me? I love being with my baby's babies!"

At the sound of Lorelai's voice, Ellie slowly started waking up.

"Nana?" the little girl asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Hi baby girl! Did you have a nice nap?"

"Uh huh," she mumbled. She had woken up fully and how she was looking around. Her eyes widened when she realized that they had gotten to their destination.

"Mama, we're here!" she wiggled out of Rory's arms and took off towards the house.

Rory sighed, "Kids and their never-ending supply of energy."

Lorelai just smiled, "So, where is your husband?"

Rory looked around, "Huh...where did he disappear to?"

The two girls turned at the sound coming from the front porch. Logan had come out of the house empty-handed.

"The bags are inside and Bradin is fast asleep in his crib," Logan said.

"A gentleman as always," Lorelai mused.

Rory hesitated, "I guess that means we have to go if we are going to make the plane."

Logan retreated back into the house to say goodbye to Ellie, while the mother and daughter duo had their moment.

"Oh no, there is no 'guessing'. You are going to Vegas and you are going to have a great time. Let loose and act like a kid again," Lorelai pulled her daughter into a hug, "Don't worry about your kids, alright? They are going to be fine and I promise no more than two wild and crazy parties."

Rory giggled, "As long as it's no more than two."

Her husband came out of the house with Ellie on his back.

"Mama!" she exclaimed.

Logan transferred her from his back into Rory's arms.

Her tiny arms snaked around her mom's neck.

"Sweetie, be good for Nana. Don't eat too many sweets and watch over your brother, okay?"

"Okay mommy."

Rory kissed the little girl's cheek and held on to her tight," I love you baby."

"I love you too mommy."

Ellie was set down again and she raced over to Logan to give him one last goodbye.

"I love you daddy."

Logan laughed, "I love you too, princess. Are you going to be on your best behavior?"

"Yes, I promise."

He ruffled her curls, "I'll see you soon."

Lorelai watched the interaction between the two and then walked over to them.

"Bye Logan," she gave him a hug and whispered in his ear, "Make sure Rory lets loose for at least one night one night."

"Will do. Bye Lorelai."

Lorelai picked up Ellie, "You two better get on the road. We'll make sure to say goodbye to Bradin for you guys when he wakes up."

"Love you guys!" Rory called out.

They got in the car and within a few seconds, they were gone.

Lorelai turned to her granddaughter in her arms, "So, want to have a party?"

* * *

Rory and Logan made the quick drive to Hartford, where their friends were waiting at the Hartford Airport. They would have flown out from New York, considering they all lived there, but both the Huntzbergers and the McCreas had kids to drop off in or near Hartford area.

They pulled into the long-term parking structure and then the couple made their way to the private airstrip. Stephanie and Colin were already on the plane; Steph was reading a magazine, while Colin was talking with the pilot.

"Rory!" she exclaimed. She jumped up and engulfed her in a hug

"Why are you so excited to see me? We had lunch yesterday!"

"This is the start of an excellent adventure, my friend. I have the right to be excited!"

Rory just laughed, "Where's Finn? I thought that he would be the first one here."

"He called a few minutes ago and said that he was almost here."

All of a sudden, the two girls heard Finn call out, "Loves, I have arrived!"

Rory stepped out of the plane to see Finn handing his luggage to the attending. She also realized that he wasn't alone. Standing next to him was a gorgeous woman; she had long, fiery red hair that flowed past her shoulders. The woman was tall with hazel eyes and a kind face.

"Rory, love! I'd like to introduce you to Shannon, my girlfriend."

"Hi Shannon," Rory smiled, but she was still in shock. She never thought that Finn, the drunken Australian, would ever settle down with someone.

"Hi Rory," she replied.

"Rory here is my best mate's wife. Still, she is one of my best friends as well," he explained.

"Well," started Rory, "we have to get on the plane. It's supposed to leave in the next ten minutes."

"Okay," whispered Shannon. She offered a small smile to Rory, which she returned, before stepping onto the plane.

Rory turned to Finn, "I like her. She's nice."

He looked worried for a second, "You don't mind that I brought her, right? I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to meet everyone."

She smiled, "The more the merrier."

From inside the plane, the two of them could hear Stephanie distinct screech of, "Girlfriend?!"

They both laughed , then they got onto the plane themselves, ready for the upcoming week.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Rory and Jess will hopefully cross paths soon. Either in the next chapter or the one after that. Please review! That lets me know that you guys are still reading and liking this story. I have an idea of where it is going, but it is just not on paper yet. **

**Updates are going to be slow. Midterms are coming up and I have about 6 projects due in the upcoming weeks. Although, in three weeks I'm off for Christmas vacation which is roughly a month. So bear with me!**

**Last chapter's question: **_What is your favorite Luke/Lorelai moment?_

**That's hard...probably in the beginning of the fourth season when they are arguing over Rory's mattress. Lorelai tries to confuse Luke into taking it. I find it hilarious every time I watch it!**

**Question: **_What's your favorite song?_


	6. Hello Las Vegas

You guys are amazing! Ten reviews is absolutely great! I really was not expecting it and then some of the things you guys said in your reviews, really made me happy. Sorry that it took me so long to update, school is insane right now. I am halfway through the next chapter, so maybe another update by Sunday or Monday. I don't know...we'll see.

**Last chapter's question: **_What's your favorite song?_

Mine changes all the time, but at the moment it is The Other Side of the Door by Taylor Swift. I love the song and the lyrics are really cute.

**Disclaimer: Again, I obviously do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. I also do not own UCLA or Harvard Law School. Or the Montecito. Or the CIA. **

* * *

The plane ride was pleasant. The gang was able to get to know Shannon a little better.

She was twenty-nine years old and a native to San Diego. After attending UCLA, she moved to Boston and went to Harvard Law School. Now she lives in Manhattan and works as an attorney at a very prestigious law firm.

At first, Shannon was quiet and shy, but after a while she got more comfortable with everyone. They realized that she was a lot like Finn, vivacious and looking for adventure, but a more toned-down version of him.

Rory felt herself jerk forward as the plane finally touched the ground. When the plane came to a stop, they quickly exited and grabbed their belongings. The group got into an awaiting limousine and made their way to the hotel.

"So mates, what's first?" asked Finn.

"We're not even at the hotel yet and you are already thinking about what we are going to do?" Stephanie asked incredulously.

"Yeah...," he responded, obviously not seeing anything wrong with it, "I say we hit the tables first."

"You do that. I'm going to the pool because I am determined to get a tan by the end of the week."

Rory chimed in, "I second what Steph said. How about you Shannon?"

"I'm good with whatever. A swim does sound nice, though."

"Then it's settled," the blond said with finality.

"You boys go gamble, while we head to the pool."

Logan put his arm around Rory's shoulder, "How am I supposed to win without my lucky charm?"

She looked up at him, "Aw...well I'm sure you will find a way because, if not, you will be sleeping on the couch."

"Oh really? The couch?"

"Oh yes," Rory smiled, "And if your other way of winning includes anyone with two X chromosomes that is outside of our group, you will be outside. In a tent."

"I guess I'll just have to use Finn as my lucky charm."

"I guess you will," she leaned up to give him a kiss.

"Will you two stop being so cutesy? It's making me sick," Colin said in disgust.

Stephanie whacked him on the arm, "Shut up. It's sweet."

He looked panicked, "Yes dear."

While Stephanie smiled triumphantly, Finn exclaimed, "You're both so whipped."

"You're next man," Logan said knowingly.

Thankfully, they were saved from the personal conversation when the limo pulled up to the hotel. The bellmen quickly loaded the luggage onto a cart, while the group walked into the lobby.

To say that the hotel was huge would be an understatement.

It had a world-class restaurant, a sports bar the size of two classrooms, a high-end casino that was one of the best in the world, and a security system that would give the CIA a run for its money.

Logan made his way over to the check-in desk while Colin and Finn did the same.

"Hello! Welcome to the Montecito Resort and Casino. How can I help you?" the young woman asked cheerfully.

"Hi. I've got a reservation under Huntzberger."

She looked through the files on her computer before clicking on one, "Ah, yes. It is wonderful to see you again, Mr. Huntzberger. We have you in one of our finest suites, room 6012," she handed him two room keys, "Have a nice stay!"

"Thank you," he grabbed the keys and went back to where the girls were standing.

Colin and Finn joined them a few minutes later, after they were finished checking in.

"So, we've got room 6014," Finn announced.

Colin help up his room key, "We're in room 6013. That's right across the hallway from yours," he turned to Logan, "What about you?"

"Room 6012. It looks like we all got the top floor."

"Can we got to the pool now? The sun waits for no woman," Stephanie asked impatiently.

"Let's just get our stuff up to the room, then you can go do whatever you want," Colin reassured her.

They all got into the elevator and made the long trek up to the sixtieth floor.

* * *

"Wow! Look at this place!" Dani exclaimed in awe, "It's huge!"

All of a sudden, a woman appeared at their side.

"Mr. Mariano, I presume?"

He nodded, "Call me Jess. This is my girlfriend, Danielle James."

"Very pleased to meet you," she handed them their keys and the registration information, "You guys are in room 3067. All of the facilities are open to you two, free of charge. After all, you brought in quite a bit of business because of your signing."

She paused and looked around the casino, "Jess, you have one book signing today and two tomorrow. Then, you are free for the rest of your stay here at the Montecito."

Jess cut in, "I'm sorry. I don't think I caught your name."

Her eyes widened, "Oh! With all the excitement, it slipped my mind. I'm Olivia Bryant, Head of Events here at the Montecito."

She stuck her hand out and Jess shook it.

"It's nice to officially meet you."

Olivia smiled, "Can you be down here in thirty minutes? We have to prepare for the signing."

Jess nodded so she turned her attention to his girlfriend, "Well Danielle, you are welcome to join us or you can go to the pool or the spa. Everything is complimentary. The signing should be done with around five. Do you want me to make reservations for you anywhere?"

"I think we're good. We'll probably just order room service," she looked at Jess, "I think I'm going to got to the pool."

"Then it's settled!" Olivia exclaimed, "Jess, I'll see you in a half hour. Danielle, it was great meeting you."

With that, she walked away and was soon out of sight.

The couple decided to head up to their room before the day's activities began. When they got on the elevator, Dani's eyes widened at all the buttons.

"Look at all the floors! There are sixty of them!"

"Aren't you glad you're dating a best-selling author?" Jess asked cheekily.

"Well, yeah! I mean," she gestured towards the buttons again, "look at all the floors!"

Jess just chuckled and they continued up to the thirtieth floor.

When they finally got to the room, they were both amazed. It consisted of three different parts.

The first was the living room; it had a large couch, big enough to fit five people, a recliner chair, a desk that was equipped with everything, even a desktop computer, and a 52-inch flat-screen TV.

To the right was the bar area. It had a pool table and another TV.

Finally, to the left of the bar area was the master bedroom. There was a large four-poster bed with a comforter that you could get lost in, a love seat in the corner, and an armoire that had yet another flat-screen. Attached to the bedroom was the master bathroom. Equipped with a jacuzzi tub, a very larger shower, two sinks, a vanity, and, of course, a toilet, it was easily the biggest bathroom either of them had ever seen.

"Whoa..." Danielle said, "This place rocks!"

By the time they had explored and unpacked, it was time for Jess to leave.

"I gotta go!" he yelled to Dani who was in the other room.

"Okay!" she answered. She met him by the door, "Have fun and make sure you smile."

He rolled his eyes, "Yes mom. Love you."

"Love you too," she smiled.

He walked out and shut the door behind him.

She quickly changed, grabbed her bag, and then she was out the door as well.

Dani made her way down the elevator and got out at the ground floor. After glancing around, she was able to locate the door that led out to the pool. When she got out there, she realized that most of the chairs were already occupied or reserved.

"Damn."

Luckily, she spotted an open one that was close to the pool and next to a few girls. She kept her eye on it and walked over.

"Excuse me?" Danielle asked, "Is this chair taken?"

One of the girls, a brunette, slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her. She focused on the figure standing above her, before registering what she had asked.

Danielle waited patiently as the girl realized that she had asked a question.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "Sorry. Of course this chair is open!"

"Thanks."

She set down her bag next to the lounge chair and got out her towel. She draped it over the chair and realized that the girls were watching her. Not because they felt that she was invading their space, but out of pure curiosity.

When she finally sat down, she looked over at them. The blond was staring at her intently, while the other two seemed mildly interested.

"Where have I seen you before?" the blond asked.

"Uh..." Dani was a little thrown off by the girl's abruptness.

"Where have I seen her?" she repeated, this time directing her question towards the brunette.

She shrugged, "I have no idea."

"But-," she started, but then it dawned on her, "You were the photographer at Caroline Lautner's wedding!"

Danielle just nodded, "Yeah. It was a beautiful ceremony."

"Uh huh," the blond said distractedly, "I wanted you so badly for my wedding, but-."

"You ended up getting married in Vegas," the brunette finished for her, as if it had been said plenty of times before.

"Yep!" she smiled before going back to her tanning.

The brunette rolled her eyes and addressed Danielle, "Sorry about her. She is all over the place."

The other girl made a sound of protest, before turning back over on her stomach.

Dani smiled, "It's alright."

The girl gestured towards herself, "I'm Rory, by the way."

* * *

**I hoped you liked it! I spent quite a bit of time on it. I don't know anything about gambling, so bear with me. As for the hotel, I have stayed in quite a few 5-star hotels, but none like the ones I assume the characters would stay in. So, I did the descriptions based on what I believe an amazing hotel would be like. Sorry if it is a bit realistic, se your imagination. Ifyou haven't noticed already, the hotel in this story is the one from the show Las Vegas, so I did not make it up. If you want visuals to what it looks like, you can look it up on google, the hotel in my mind is based loosely off of that. Feel free to ask me any questions if you are confused with anything!**

**Please review it would mean a lot to me! Remember, I love long reviews!**

**Question:**_ What is your favorite movie?_


	7. New Friends

I know I said I'd update a couple days ago, but finals are crazy! Luckily they are done tomorrow...I hope you like the chapter! Just a warning...a couple parts are very AU. Not just what should have happened, but like it never happened in the show.

**Last chapter's question: **_What's your favorite movie?_

My favorite movie at the moment is The Proposal. Funniest. Movie. Ever. I loved it! Other favorite movies are the Harry Potter Series (all six of them).

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with it....obviously.**

* * *

_Dani smiled, "It's alright."_

_The other girl gestured towards herself, "I'm Rory, by the way."_

"Danielle."

The girl, Rory, pointed towards the red head, "That's Shannon and the blond next to her is Stephanie."

Shannon waved at Dani, while Stephanie, still lying face down in the tanning position, merely lifted a hand up in hello.

Rory turned back towards the newcomer, "Are you here on vacation?"

"Yeah, for a week," Dani replied.

Rory arched her eyebrow in surprise, "And you're here alone?"

She laughed, "No, my boyfriend's here with me. He is actually doing a book signing right now."

"A book signing? Wow, and you guys are staying here? It must be some book."

"I guess. It's a best seller."

She looked surprised, "Really? What is it-," but she was interrupted by a waiter.

"Mrs. Huntzberger?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"You're husband wanted me to tell you that your daughter called and would like you to call her back."

"Thanks," Rory took her cell phone out of her bag and dialed a number, "This will only take a second."

Danielle shrugged, "Take your time."

Rory waited until somebody picked up on the other line.

"Hello! You've reached Lorelai's House of Crazies. For the beautiful Lorelai, press one. For the handsome Luke, press two. For the darling Ellie, press three. And for the adorable Bradin, press four."

Rory laughed, "Hey mom!"

"Hello my wonderful daughter! What can I do for you?"

"Can you put Ellie on the phone? Logan said she called."

"You don't want to talk to me? Have I really become that unimportant in your eyes? It's an outrage! It's a scandal!"

"Mom, have you been watching Harry Potter again?"

"Maybe..." Lorelai answered mysteriously.

"Please put my daughter on the phone," Rory said exasperated. She tried staying serious, but her face broke out into a huge smile.

"Fine," her mom pouted. She put Ellie on the phone.

"Hi mama!" she exclaimed.

"Hi baby girl!"

Dani sat there listening to the one-sided conversation between Rory and, presumably, her daughter. She wasn't sure what to think of these girls. They seemed nice enough, but she could also tell that they were rich. Like beyond her realm of wealthy. She had always been weary of the rich, only because she had not had the best experiences with them in the past.

She knew that Rory and Stephanie were both married and that Rory had a daughter. Shannon was more of a mystery to her. The red head seemed quiet and still a little unfamiliar with the other girls. Danielle focused her attention back on Rory as she was finishing her phone call.

"Okay sweetie, I love you. Bye baby."

She stuck her phone back in her bag, "Sorry about that," directing her apology towards Danielle, "That was my daughter."

"How old is she?"

"Oh, she's five. Her name is Ellie," Rory answered with a loving tone to her voice.

_'At least I know she loves her kid,' Dani thought._

"I love kids," she said aloud, "Is she your only one?"

"No, I've got a two year old as well, Bradin. How about you?"

Dani laughed, "Not yet. Someday, though, after I'm married."

Rory just smiled at her, "So, Stephanie said that you are a photographer?"

"Yep. I own _D Studios_ in Los Angeles."

"That's awesome! Do you only take local jobs?"

Danielle hesitated, "For the most part, yes. I do take a lot of jobs in other areas close to LA and even a few out of state every once and a while."

"Well, if you don't have any objections to coming to New York, maybe I'll hire you to photograph the next crazy party that my grandma forces me to host."

"I'll definitely take that into consideration...so, what do you do for a living?" she asked, secretly hoping that she wasn't one of those who lived off her husband's income.

Rory looked surprised by the question, but she hid it almost immediately, "Me? I'm the features writer for the New York Times."

Now it was Danielle's turn to be surprised, "Really?"

"Yep. I went to Yale, majored in journalism, graduated, and then I got a job. A job at a newspaper that, by the way, is not owned by my husband," she said it almost bitterly.

"Your husband owns newspapers?" Dani asked confused.

Stephanie turned over and scoffed, "Owns newspapers? More like owns an entire empire!"

"What Steph is trying to say," Rory interrupted, "Is that my husband is the owner and CEO of HPG, the Huntzberger Publishing Group. So, technically, the company owns the newspapers."

Danielle's eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open, "That's, um, well...wow. I wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

Trying to recover, Dani tried another question, "So, how long have you guys known each other?"

Rory gestured to Stephanie, "Well, we were roommates in college. So, we've been best friends for...eleven years."

"You can't forget Paris," Steph cut in, "Aren't you proud that she finally got over her phobia of sick people?"

Rory laughed, "Oh, yes. I am very proud. Paris Geller sure makes life interesting."

"Paris Geller?" Danielle inquired, at the same time noticing Shannon's equally confused face as well.

"Our other roommate," the brunette explained, "I have been friends with her since high school, we had a love-hate relationship. Let's just say she is a little...intense."

"Intense? She is more like intense multiplied by five," Stephanie looked back at Danielle, "Anyway, she was pre-med, yet she could not stand sick people."

Both girls laughed again, remembering the "good times". When their giggling finally subsided, Rory cleared her throat.

"Sorry. Paris was kind of a downer sometimes, but she always gave everyone a good laugh."

"Are you guys still in touch?" Dani asked.

"Oh yeah. I usually talk to her every other day. Plus we see each other a lot because she doesn't live that far away."

"Cool," she turned to Shannon, "How long have you known them?"

"Since this morning," she said simply.

"Really?" Danielle raised her eyebrow, "Why?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Because Finn is an idiot who did not tell us he was seeing someone until this morning when they both showed up at the airport," she looked at Shannon, "Not that we don't love love you."

The red-head just smiled.

"Finn?" Danielle asked curiously.

"Our friend the drunken Australian with an obsession for red-heads. He is the sweetest guy you will ever meet and practically harmless, but he gets distracted easily. For example, not telling us he had a girlfriend," Stephanie said in one breath.

Danielle was very intrigued by all the colorful characters that they seemed to know, "Well Finn seems very...interesting."

Rory sat up, "I have an idea! Why don't you come to dinner with us tonight? We have reservations at seven at the restaurant in the lobby. You can bring your boyfriend and meet everyone."

"I don't know," she said hesitantly, "I don't want to impose on you guys."

Rory waved it off, "Are you kidding me? I see them everyday. Plus, you're going to have to have someone to hang out with, so you might as well get to know us better."

Dani seemed convinced, "Okay. We'd love to join you. Is it formal?"

"No, it's not formal, but it's not casual either. So, like a happy middle," she reasoned.

"Happy middle, got it."

The four of them spent the rest of the afternoon talking, tanning, and they even took a quick dip into the pool.

* * *

Around five, Danielle left the other girls to go meet Jess. They had agreed to just meet back in the hotel room.

She walked into the suite and heard the TV in the background, "Jess?"

"I'm in the bedroom!" he called.

Dani followed his voice. She found him lying on the bed, watching ESPN.

"Hey babe," he smiled.

"Hi," Danielle laid down next to him and gave him a quick kiss, "How was the book signing?"

Jess shrugged, "It was good. A lot of people showed up."

"That's good," she figured that she should stop stalling, "So...I met some people today."

"Really?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of the TV.

"Yeah and they invited us to dinner tonight. And I accepted."

Jess turned to look at her, "Wait, what?"

Dani hurried on, "They're nice and they offered. And I am going to spend the day with them tomorrow, so I might as well get to know them better."

"Well..." he sighed, "What time should I be ready?"

"Seven, and please wear something nice," she hopped off the bed, "I'm going to go get ready."

Two hours later and Danielle was ready to go. Her hair was slightly curled, she had on a little bit of makeup, and she was wearing a fitted, green dress that ended right above the knee.

"Are you ready?" she called out.

"Yep."

She met him by the door, "Let's go!"

He grabbed her arm, "Hey Dani?"

"Yeah?" she asked curiously.

"You look beautiful."

Danielle blushed, "Well thank you handsome."

They linked hands and made their way to the restaurant. Dani glanced around the busy scene, before her eyes lit up.

"They're this way," she pulled him along behind her until they reached the large table.

"Hey guys!"

Rory smiled, "Dani you came!"

"Of course I came! Who would want to miss eating at a five-star restaurant?"

Everybody laughed at her sarcastic comment.

"Guys, this is my boyfriend Jess," she pulled him out from his position behind her. Danielle did not see nor notice her boyfriend's wide eyes and panicked face.

"You have got to be kidding me."

* * *

**Well there it is. Hopefully it was up to par. I'm not going to be able to review until after Christmas, so I hope this will sustain you until then. I leave for Lake Tahoe to go skiing tomorrow and I'm excited! I didn't get a chance to go up during the summer, so I'm making up for it by going twice this winter.**

**I know that Stephanie and Rory were not roommates in college, but let's just pretend that they were. :)**

**Please review! It let's me know that you guys still like this story. (It also gives me motivation to write more....)**

**No more questions...I kind of ran out of things to ask.**


	8. Blast From The Past

I am so, so, so, so sorry for the lack of an update. Like I am sorry times a hundred. It turns out that it is a lot harder for me to write during vacation. I go back to school on the 11th so updates should pick up around then.

Thank you so much for your reviews! If you guys have any questions, just leave them in your review and I'll get back to you with an answer. I am really happy that you guys are liking the story!

So...here is the chapter that you all have been waiting for. The Rory/Jess interaction. I hope that I did it justice. I decided to break up the dinner into two different chapters, so this is not the only chapter about the dinner.

**Disclaimer: For the thousandth time, I DO NOT own Gilmore Girls. **

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Rory could not believe her luck. When she had met Danielle earlier in the day, she had really liked her. She seemed nice and they got along really well. The girl had mentioned her boyfriend briefly, but the subject was forgotten after her phone call with Ellie. Now, he was here and she was shocked.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said in disbelief, "You are her boyfriend?"

"Um...yeah," he answered nervously, obviously this encounter was a surprise to him as well.

"I can't believe this!" Rory exclaimed, "Out of all the men in the world, it just had to be you."

She started to stand up, but Logan grabbed on to her forearm. Rory turned to look at him and he raised his eyebrow at her. The two of them had a short, silent conversation. Logan had noticed that Rory's outbursts were attracting the attention of the other people in the restaurant.

"Rory..." he warned when she did not back down.

She sighed and took a couple deep breaths before sitting down again. The brunette looked up at her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend. Jess looked extremely uncomfortable, while Danielle just looked downright confused.

"Well, are you two going to sit or are you guys just going to stand there?" Rory asked in defeat.

The couple seemed surprised for a moment and they took their seats hesitantly. The entire table was silent, except for the sounds of Stephanie and Finn who were stifling their laughter. They knew the entire history between Rory and Jess.

Dani had enough of the awkward silence, so she spoke up, "What in the world is going on here?"

Stephanie couldn't help herself, her giggles broke through and she could not stop.

"Why are you laughing?" Danielle asked helplessly.

"You really have no idea do you?" Stephanie said through her incessant giggles.

"Stephanie..." Rory groaned, embarrassed by her best friend's behavior.

Because nobody else was answering her questions, Danielle turned towards her boyfriend, "Jess, tell me exactly what is going on, right now."

Jess looked like a deer caught in the headlights," Um...well, me and Rory kind of...know each other. Like we really knew each other."

"What do you mean you know each other? I have known you for over a year and I have never seen nor heard of her."

"Okay, just calm down. People are starting to stare," Rory tried to keep Danielle from raising her voice any higher.

The other girl just looked lost, "Please, just tell me why Stephanie is laughing and why you look as if you are about to kill someone. I am starting to feel like an idiot, like there is something right in front me that I should be getting, but I don't."

Rory rolled her eyes, "Me and Jess used to date a long time ago."

"Yes, a long, long time ago," Jess assured his girlfriend.

"You guys used to date..." Danielle said slowly, "How is the even possible? The two of you come from two completely different worlds."

"We didn't used to. The two of us lived in good ol' Stars Hollow, Connecticut."

The brunette chuckled, "I guess I don't exactly seem like the small town girl type."

"No, not exactly."

"The truth is that I am way more of a small town girl than a city girl."

"Really? Because you look...rich. Not that that's a bad thing, but you know people don't usually associate being rich with small towns."

Danielle glanced around the table again.

Stephanie still had a giant grin on her face, the other unfamiliar faces were smiling also, and Jess was still looking extremely uncomfortable.

She heard Stephanie whisper, _'This is way better than a soap opera,'_ to the guy sitting next to her.

Before Rory could explain herself, the waiter came over to take their orders. Hoping to end this very awkward dinner as soon as possible, Danielle just ordered her favorite dish. As soon as the waiter was gone, she focused her attention back on Rory. By the look on her face, Dani knew that she was expecting a whole lot of questions.

"So, are you going to explain or what?"

"Well, it depends. Do you want the long version or the short and sweet version?"

"Let's go with the short and sweet version. I have a feeling that the long version is going to take up a lot of my time."

Rory sighed, "Both of my parents come from very wealthy families. My mom got pregnant with me when she was sixteen and refused to marry my dad. She hated feeling trapped and she was never one to follow the rules. Also, she hated the world that her parents loved and thrived in. So when she graduated high school, she took me and ran away to Stars Hollow. I grew up in a potting shed slash maid's quarters, while my mom worked as a maid for the local inn. Fast forward a couple years and she actually owns her own inn and I have graduated from Yale. Everything in between is just her working extremely hard to get me where I am today and, towards the end, us getting help from my grandparents, much to my mother's complete and utter disgust."

Dani sat there soaking in all of the information that her new friend had just revealed to her. What she still did not quite understand was how Jess fit in to the equation. She had conveniently skipped over anything regarding any boyfriends of hers.

It was not that she felt threatened, Rory seemed perfectly happy with her family and disgusted with Jess, but she just didn't understand the situation. Anybody who knew her knew that she hated being out of the loop.

Attempting to get more answers, Danielle focused on Jess, "So, you two dated. For how long?"

Rory scoffed, "Now that is the interesting part of the story. We had been dating for about nine months, then one day he is just gone. His uncle told my mom to tell me that he had gone to California to live with his estranged father after he flunked out of high school. I did not hear a word from him until almost a year later, when he showed up back in Stars Hollow for his mother's wedding."

"What?"

"Danielle..." Jess tried to diffuse the situation before she got mad at him for his past mistakes, "I was young and stupid and very angry. Don't get upset with me because of what I did in my past. I was a different person when I was younger."

Rory crossed her arms over her chest, "Yeah, don't ruin your relationship with him because of me. That was a long time ago and I got over it. There is no need for you to get all worked up about it."

During the conversation between the three people, the rest of the gang had stayed silent. The only exception being the occasional giggle or chuckle that escaped their lips. Now, Finn decided to speak up to ease some of the tension.

"So love, are you going to introduce us to your friends?" he directed the question at Rory.

She giggled at his oh-so-subtle attempt at changing the subject, "Okay Finn. You have heard of Jess and that is his girlfriend, Danielle."

"Hello love. Nice to meet you," he looked at Jess, "And mate, I have heard plenty about you."

Talking over Finn, Rory continued with the introductions.

"Danielle, Jess, the Australian is Finn. He is Shannon's boyfriend. The guy next to Stephanie is Colin, her husband," she gestured towards the guy sitting next to her, "And this is my husband, Logan."

Everybody said their hellos and then they were interrupted again by the waiter. He had brought out all of their food. Exhausted by the revealing conversation, the table of eight dug into their food. For a little while, the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of everyone chewing. Eventually the conversation picked up again and they stayed far away from the topic that they were previously talking about, in order to keep the level of awkwardness down.

Jess watched as his girlfriend fit in so easily with his ex-girlfriend and her friends. He could not understand how she could. He guessed that it had something to do with her line of work. Photographing all of those fancy weddings, being around all of those rich people, must have rubbed off on her a little bit.

He never liked wealthy people. Most of them felt as if they were better than everyone else just because they had money. Jess had first-hand experience with it in the form of his dinner with Emily Gilmore. She had put on an act and pretended to be pleased by her granddaughter's choice of a boyfriend, but he saw right through it. Those types of people were the reason why he had decided to always just look out for himself and nobody else.

It scared him to see that Danielle was able to be amongst them so easily. The thoughts reminded him to harshly to his previously life. Jess knew that he could not control his girlfriend. As much as she clung to him, she was fiercely independent as well. He definitely could not tell her what to do or who to hang out with and a part of that worried him. Who knows what Rory would tell her about him and his past. All he knew was that the rest of the week was going to be very interesting, starting with the rest of the awkward dinner.

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**Did you guys like it? I wasn't crazy about it, but I felt that you guys were owed an update so I just went with it. This half of the dinner was mainly the explanation part, for Danielle's sake. The next chapter will be more of Rory and Jess. (Or Rory being really pissed off at him...). Again, this is a Rogan story, just in case any of you were confused.**

**If you have not been able to tell, I made Rory kind of bitter when it came to her past with Jess. I also said that she was over it, but obviously anyone would still feel hurt by it, right? In my opinion, I think she has every right to be, but that's just me. Tell me what you think...**

**Review? Please? It would make me happy and motivated and I would absolutely love to hear what you guys think! :)**

**If by chance you live in a part of the world where it is already 2010, then Happy New Year! I hope that you guys have a good one. For me it is 5:22 PM over here where I live. Oh, and I hope everyone had a happy holiday!**


	9. Awkward

As I am writing, I am watching the episode where Honor calls Rory and says she is sorry that she and Logan broke up. On Thanksgiving! Logan is such an idiot...

Over 50 reviews! You guys are amazing! Thank you so much to everyone who did take the time to review. If you haven't, then thank you so much for reading!

Here is the second half of the dinner! I hope it lives up to your expectations!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show...yeah.**

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Rory could not deny that she wished this dinner had gone differently. She definitely was not expecting her ex-boyfriend to show up in Las Vegas at the same time that she was there. Fate had a pretty messed up sense of humor in her opinion.

Throughout the dinner, Rory kept sneaking glances at Jess. She was not exactly happy that he was here. She was still bitter about how everything ended between them. Rory knew that it had been almost twelve years since he left without a word, only to show up a year later, begging her to come with him to New York for the summer. Although, she guessed that since she was never forced to deal with the situation, she was never able to let go of the heartache.

Now, watching him look so out of place, even among his girlfriend, she couldn't help but almost laugh out loud. She now understood the meaning of the phrase, _'Payback's a bitch'_.

Rory remembered that Danielle had mentioned something about a book tour earlier in the day. She figured that she might as well include Jess in the conversation; it might help to clear some of the discomfort that was in the air.

"So Jess, Dani mentioned something about a book tour. What is that all about?" she asked politely, cutting through all of the other chatter.

All of the other conversations stopped immediately. Everybody was surprised that Rory even acknowledged Jess, including Jess himself.

"Uh..." he started hesitantly, "yeah. It is a coast to coast book tour. There is not that much to say about it."

"What is the book about?" Rory asked curiously.

"Well, it's kind of fiction that is based on real life. A teenager from a rough part of the city goes to live with his uncle in a small, quirky town."

"So it's basically your life written down on paper."

"I guess you could look at it that way. I mean, a lot of stuff that happened in the novel didn't happen to me, but that it what makes it a good story."

"Well, congratulations. Writing a book is a huge accomplishment."

"Thanks."

Rory paused before talking again. She wasn't sure where to take the conversation next.

"Are you going to stop by Stars Hollow while you are on the tour? I'm sure Luke would love to see you again."

Jess nodded, "I am planning on it. I talked to him the other day and he is excited to meet Danielle."

His girlfriend jumped in, "I'm really excited to meet the infamous Uncle Luke. Jess has talked a lot about him. What he did for him all of those years ago was amazing. Just taking him in like that, no questions asked, that is the sign of a very good person."

"You'll love Luke and I'm sure that he will love you too," Rory assured her, as well as making a mental note to ask her mom to keep an eye out for Danielle when they visit.

"Are you close with him?" she wondered out loud.

"If you count him being my step dad as close, the yes."

"Wait a minute, back up. Luke Danes, Jess's uncle, is your step dad."

"Yep. Him and my mom got married like six years ago. They had been dating for four years before that, but we were close before they got together. He attended my caterpillar's funeral, went to my high school graduation, and he helped me move into my dorm room freshman year," Rory explained.

"How is Luke?" Jess asked his former girlfriend, "We don't really talk that much, so we really don't get the chance to catch up."

"According to my mom he's good. Well, aside from living in a very dysfunctional family that is."

"What do you mean?"

"It's him, my mom, and Paul Anka living in my childhood home," she laughed.

If Jess would have had anything in his mouth, it would have been all over the table by then.

"Did you say Paul Anka?"

"Yeah, their dog," Rory shrugged, "He was my mom's dog first."

"They named their dog Paul Anka?" Jess asked incredulously. He could never see Luke agreeing to have a dog, much less naming it Paul Anka.

"No..." she answered slowly, "My mom named her dog Paul Anka. He officially became their dog after the two of them got married."

"Well that is definitely something that Lorelai would do."

"We are talking about the woman who named me after herself because she felt like it wasn't fair that men always got to name their sons after them. She was trying to 'even out the playing field', her words not mine."

"And the fact that she was hopped up on all of those hospital drugs probably helped her decision along," Jess chuckled.

Rory laughed along with him. She felt that anger she had towards him slowly evaporate. It felt nice to talk to him again with no strings attached.

Logan knew her better than anyone, with the only possible exception being her mother. But Logan knew both sides of her: the studious Rory and the Rory that liked to let loose every once in a while. Jess on the other hand was the first person that she ever felt really understood her. When she was around him, it was as if she was on a high. Of course, being with Logan was a hundred times better, but still, it was nice to think that there was a possibility that they could by friends again.

Danielle, eager to break up their reminiscing, started up a new topic.

"So, what are you guys doing here in Las Vegas anyway?"

"We are here on vacation," Stephanie answered, "A much needed one, that is for sure."

"We definitely needed one," Rory agreed, "I haven't been on a vacation since my daughter was born. That was five years ago."

"Why Las Vegas? I mean, why not choose a place with a beach or an ocean view?"

"Why not Sin City? Who cares about the beach when you have a world-class spa and poker all night?" Stephanie countered.

"I guess you have a point," Danielle finally sighed.

An awkward silence descended upon the group. They had run out of things to say that would make it go away.

"So...I know what Logan and Rory do for a living, what about the rest of you?" Jess asked, then he picked up his wine glass and took a gulp.

"Well," the blond started, "I took over my mother's clothing and cosmetics line a couple years ago. It is pretty big, so it's a huge responsibility. One that makes me want to tear my hair out sometimes."

Stephanie gestured towards her husband, "Colin is going to be the next senator of whatever state we live in when the time comes. Although for now, he works as a lawyer for his father's law firm."

"Politics, huh?" Danielle said impressed, "That is a pretty tough world, but I guess you look cut out for it."

Colin shrugged, "I hope I am. It will be nice to get out from underneath my father's shadow."

"Are you working at his firm voluntarily or because you have to?"

"Both I guess. My father basically forced me into it, but I need the experience if I want to run for Congress. I plan on running in the next couple of years," he explained.

"Good for you. That's pretty cool," Danielle turned and looked at Finn, "What about you, Australian boy? What do you do?"

"Well love, if you really must know, I own the family beer company. We make and distribute it worldwide."

Danielle raised her eyebrows, "You know Finn, from what everyone has told me about you, I should have seen it coming."

"Yes, well, did you know that I met Shannon because of the company?" he wrapped his arm around the back of his girlfriend's chair.

"No I didn't. Can I hear the story?" Dani asked eagerly.

Shannon decided to tell the story, knowing that Finn would probably exaggerate it to the point where it would turn into a full-blown adventure.

"I was representing his dad in a minor case, it really wasn't that big of a deal, but my law firm deals with clients who have a lot of money and we pride ourselves in discretion when it is needed. Anyway, one day Finn shows up in the place of his father and he was being his usual charming self. He asked me out to dinner and, of course, I couldn't say no."

Danielle was listening intently to the story. She had always been a sucker for romance.

"So," Shannon continued, "we had a good time at the restaurant and we were a little buzzed from the couple of drinks that we had when Finn exclaims that we should go dancing. So we went to this new club that had just opened and we were out all night. It was such an amazing date."

"That is so cute," Dani smiled.

"Isn't it?" Rory agreed, "When they told me the story I couldn't stop smiling. Who knew our little Finn could put on such a good first date."

"No matter how cute the story is, it doesn't change the fact that Finn forgot to mention he was seeing someone," Stephanie grumbled.

Rory rolled her eyes, "Ignore her. She's just mad that she wasn't the first to know."

"I'm sorry that I am a little bit upset that one of my best friends didn't inform me that he was seeing someone. The guy has a girlfriend for the first time since middle school and he doesn't even tell me," she defended.

"Drama queen..." Rory mumbled under her breath.

"Rory!" the blond exclaimed.

She threw her hands up in defense, "Sorry."

Logan, along with Colin and Finn, just chuckled at their antics.

The brunette sighed after looking at the clock on her cell phone, "We have to head up. I promised my mom that I would call her as soon as dinner was done and it is already eleven-thirty over there."

"We should probably head up too. Tomorrow is going to be a long day," Colin said reasonably.

"Oh yeah, because sitting and gambling all day really uses up all of your energy!" his wife said loudly.

The group got up and Logan had the meal put on his tab.

They all rode up in the same elevator. The doors opened and Jess and Danielle got out. Before they could go very far however, Rory stopped them.

"Danielle, if you're still up for it, we are all going shopping tomorrow. You're welcome to come if you want."

Dani smiled, excited that she was still invited. After everything, she wasn't sure if she still would be.

"I'd love to."

"Great! Meet us in the lobby at ten. By the way, my room number is 6012, just in case."

With that the elevator doors closed and both parties were left wondering what the next day would bring.

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**Did you like it? Or not? Whatever your opinion is, please review! Your reviews are what motivate me to write.**

**I have tentatively planned out this story. I figure that it is going to be about seventeen chapters, including the epilogue. Remember, this story is not supposed to be focused on drama. Although, I believe that I have one twist coming...**

**Any confusing parts? Any questions? You guys can ask or tell me anything and I will answer as soon as possible!**


	10. I Guess I Was Exploring

I am so sorry that this took so long to get out. School has been crazy so therefore, on the weekends I am exhausted. That means no time to write. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it. It's a filler, but it sets up for some drama and it is the longest chapter I have ever written!

I also want to say thank you guys so much for all your amazing reviews on the last chapter. You guys never cease to amaze me with all your support. And for everyone who doesn't review, thanks for reading! It really means a lot to me...

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. I also don't own Hard Rock Cafe...too bad for me.**

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The next morning, Danielle was running frantically about the hotel room searching for her cell phone. She had used it to call her partners back in Los Angeles the previous night. After that, she could not remember where she had put it down.

"Jess!" she called, "Have you seen my phone?"

He walked out of the bedroom and shrugged, "Not since last night."

"Ugh..." Danielle groaned while throwing the couch pillows every which way. She was hoping that it had slipped through the cracks of the couch.

"What's the rush? You look like you are going insane."

"I am supposed to meet the girls in the lobby in ten minutes. I really don't want to be late, but you know I hate leaving without my phone," she said quickly, still searching for her lost item.

Jess sighed, "Do you really have to go with them today?"

"What else am I going to do?"

"You could come to the book signing instead."

Danielle was on her hands and knees looking under the couch.

"Ha! I found it!" she exclaimed, then she turned and glanced up at Jess, "You want me to stand around and watch you sign books all day?"

"Well why not? We could spend some more time together. After all, that's why you're here."

She scoffed, "My idea of spending time together is not watching you sign millions of books. Plus, we will spend time together. That's what the rest of the week is for."

Danielle dropped her phone into her purse and walked over to Jess.

"Hey...what's this about?"

He sighed again, "Do you really have to hang out with them? I mean, what's so great about them anyway?"

"What's so great about them is that they are willing to hang out with me while my boyfriend is working," she emphasized the word 'working'.

"I guess..." Jess said begrudgingly.

Danielle clapped her hands together, "Cheer up! Go to your signing and be famous and then I will see you tonight."

"Okay," he finally agreed, "You better get going. You don't want to be late."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "See, what would I do without you?"

She gave Jess a quick peck on the lips after grabbing her purse, "Bye babe!"

He was going to reply, but she was out the door before he got the chance.

"Bye..." he said to the empty room.

All of a sudden he felt very alone. To shake off the feeling, he padded around the room trying to find something to occupy his time. Finally, he settled in front of TV, letting whatever game was on block out all of his worries.

_**F O L L O W I N G F A T E**_

Meanwhile, Danielle was in an elevator, on her way down to the lobby. When the elevator dinged, signaling that they were at their destination, she stepped out through the open doors. She glanced around the lobby quickly, hoping to find her new friends. Danielle spotted them standing by the fountain, chatting animatedly among themselves.

"Hey!" she called out when she got close enough.

"Danielle! I'm so glad that you could make it!" Rory greeted her.

She smiled, "Me too. I can't remember the last time I just spent the shopping."

"I know!" Stephanie exclaimed, "Between our kids and jobs, all the clothes in my closet are from last season!"

The girls started their walk to the nearest boutique.

"I didn't know you had kids, Steph," Danielle commented curiously.

"Well, it's kid. We have not gotten to the point where it's plural...yet."

"Boy or girl?"

A grin spread across the blond's face, "Girl. Her name is Rebecca Anne McCrea, but she goes by Becca. She's five."

"I really wish I had kids. I don't know how Jess would feel about that though," Danielle sighed, suddenly wishing that she hadn't brought him up.

"My older sister was in the same situation," Shannon piped up, "She had a boyfriend who was kind of like Jess, flighty and never staying the same place. He was restless. Megan loved him though, but she really wanted kids. One day she sat him down and told him what she wanted. It turns out that he wanted the same things and now I have two nephews and a niece."

"Are they still together?" Dani questioned.

She smiled, "Yeah, they are. They have been happily married for six years."

"Sometimes you just have to say what is on your mind. Don't let your fear of the possibilities stop you from living your life," Rory said gently.

"Rory and Shannon are right, girlie Just tell him- oh my god!" Stephanie exclaimed, causing everyone to stop abruptly.

"What?" Rory asked, a little annoyed.

"Look at that purse!" she stood there, staring in the window of the little shop, "I'm getting it!"

The other girls watched as the blond ran into the store.

"That's Steph for you," Rory sighed and glanced at Danielle, "Everything is going to turn out okay, you'll see."

"Thanks for saying that."

The brunette smiled and looked through the window where she could see Stephanie chatting with the salesgirl, "Well, we better follow her inside or she just might buy the entire store."

The rest of the group chuckled, but they walked into the boutique anyway, marking the beginning of an amazing shopping spree.

**_F O L L O W I N G F A T E_**

He heard a loud knocking at the door and he wondered who it could be. It wasn't like her had any friends here. He opened the door to see Olivia on the other side.

"Jess! Good, you're here," she said, breathing a sigh of relief, "I've got some news for you."

"Oh, um...come in," Jess said quickly. He was glad that he had decided to pick up the room earlier.

"So, what's up?"

"I got a call from your editor this morning. He has decided to push your second signing to tomorrow. He said something about creating anticipation."

"Wait, the signing isn't today?" Jess asked while thinking of Danielle.

"No, it's not," Olivia shrugged, "Sorry, but I take orders from my boss and, at the moment, my boss takes orders from your editor."

He groaned, "I'm getting a new editor."

She laughed, "Oh come on, you should be happy right now! You are in beautiful city with the day off! Where's the excitement?"

"No, I am glad that I don't have to 'work' today, it's just that my girlfriend isn't here right now. She went shopping or something."

"Oh...well, why don't you call her? She might come back to the hotel to spend the day with you. And if not, then you can spend the day with me! You can see how the job of the Montecito Events Director works."

He grinned, "I'll go call her, but stay here, okay? Just in case..."

"I'll be here," she smiled, causing Jess to notice how beautiful she really was. With long, flowing blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a damn good figure, she looked like she just walked off the cover of a magazine.

He gulped and walked into the bedroom. Jess pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed Danielle's number. It rang a couple times before she picked up.

"Hello?" she answered. Jess found it hard to hear her over the noise in the background.

"Hey. It's me."

"Oh! Hi babe! What's up?"

"I just have to tell you something," he paused, still finding it difficult to hear, "Where are you?"

"Hard Rock Cafe. We shopped for a couple hours, but then we got hungry. The food here is amazing," she gushed.

"Well, that's cool."

Danielle heard the uneasiness in his voice, "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"It turns out that I don't have a signing today. My editor changed it to tomorrow."

"Oh..." she hesitated, "So, what are you going to do instead?"

"I was hoping that you could come back and we could hang out."

"Jess...I can't leave right now. Tell you what, tonight we'll have dinner, just the two of us."

"Okay," he said with fake cheerfulness, "I'll um...see you tonight."

"Do something fun today, okay?" she asked softly, "Please don't stay cooped up in the hotel room."

"I'll go check out the casino or something."

Danielle smiled, "Good. Look, I have to go, but I'll see you tonight. I love you."

"Sure. I love you too. Bye."

Jess sighed as he hung up. He knew he was being irrational in asking her to come back, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed that she didn't. Why did everyone seem to choose Rory over him?

All of a sudden, he remembered that Olivia was still in his living room. Some of the disappointment that he felt melted away at the prospect of spending of spending the day with the blond.

Jess quickly shook off the phone conversation with Danielle and went into the other room. Olivia was sitting on the couch, typing something into her phone.

She looked up when Jess entered the room, "So, what's the verdict?"

"You know, I think seeing you work sounds like a lot of fun to me."

Her face lit up, "Great! Today just got a whole lot better. Maybe my clients will be more cooperative if you are there to be a buffer."

"Hey!" he exclaimed, faking offense, "I'm one of your clients. Does that make me uncooperative?"

"Oh no, you are plenty cooperative. In fact, you're one of my favorites."

"One of your favorites, huh?"

"Yep," Olivia glanced down at her cell phone, "Duty calls. Ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Jess answered.

He followed her out the door, his thoughts never straying to his girlfriend.

**_F O L L O W I N G F A T E_**

Later that day, Jess and Olivia were standing in the lobby. The two of them were laughing at the expense of one of her clients whom they had watched over that afternoon.

"'I want an ice sculpture of all the Disney princesses at my daughter's birthday party!'" mimicked Olivia.

"I know! Who asks for that?" Jess laughed.

"I have no idea."

He looked at her, really looked at her. Her laughter made her eyes light up and she looked so care free.

Olivia, noticing that Jess was staring at her, cleared her throat, "Do you maybe want to grab dinner or something?"

"Oh, I'd love to but I promised Danielle that I would have dinner with her."

Her face fell, but she tried to mask it with indifference, "Of course! Go have dinner and I'll see you tomorrow at the signing. One o'clock sharp."

Jess reached for her hand, "Olivia-,"

She pulled her hand away, "One o'clock sharp."

"One o'clock," he nodded, getting the message.

Olivia turned around and walked back towards the casino to tend to her other clients. Jess sighed as he watched her go. Then he made his way to the elevator so he could go back up to the room to meet Danielle.

She showed up a half hour later with a smile on her face, "I'm back!"

"Hey honey," Jess called, "Did you have fun today?"

"Oh yeah. It was such a good day."

"I'm glad that you had a nice time."

Dani grinned, "What about you? What did you do today?"

"Oh, you know," he stuttered, "I just explored the hotel. It's huge!"

"That's what I've been saying!" she leaned in to kiss him.

Jess responded to the sweet kiss and tried to focus on his girlfriend, but he couldn't help but let his thoughts linger on a certain blond.

**_F O L L O W I N G F A T E_**

Meanwhile, in suite 6012, Rory was greeting Logan in the same manner. They were in the middle of a particularly passionate kiss, when Logan pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Rory asked.

"There is something that I think I should tell you, but I don't know it it's even my business or your business."

"Well, if you think you should tell me, then maybe you should," she said cheekily.

Logan looked away for a second, "It's about Jess."

Rory groaned, "What about him?"

"I saw him today in the casino."

"Yeah, Danielle said that his book signing got canceled. She told him to go have fun."

"But he wasn't alone. He was with that events director, the blond one. They looked really comfortable together."

"Well, she is helping him with his signing, so they were probably just hanging out."

"I don't know Ror," he sighed, "They seemed to be really...cozy together."

Rory scowled at this information. She hoped for Danielle's sake that Logan was wrong. Although, something in her gut told her that he wasn't.

* * *

**Love it? Hate it? Review?**

**By the way, I have no idea if there is a Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, but just go with it. I love that place...**

**Next chapter should be up...I don't know exactly when yet. I have yet to write it, but stay with me!**


	11. Crossing THAT Line

I am so sorry that it took me so ridiculously long to update this story. I would give you a million excuses, but the truth is that I just got lazy. And I guess watching the end of Gilmore Girls (season seven) didn't help either...anyways, I'm back! Hopefully you guys will enjoy this chapter, I had some trouble writing so I hope you like it. Enough babbling...enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. I thought everyone would know that by now...**

* * *

She woke up with his arm wrapped tightly around her middle. Rory loved the feeling of security that it gave her. Trying to get a better look at his sleeping face, she carefully turned so she was facing him. He looked so content that she smiled. Rory lifted her hand and started to trace random shapes along his chest.

"You know, watching people while they sleep is on the borderline of creepy," Logan muttered, without opening his eyes.

"Did I wake you?"

He slowly opened his while grinning, "Maybe..."

Rory raised her eyebrows, "So, you're not going to tell me whether or not I need to apologize?"

"You never have to apologize to me, hon," he said. Then he pressed a kiss to her lips.

She deepened it quickly by rolling over so that she was lying on top of him. It would have gone a lot farther if Rory's phone hadn't started ringing. Logan groaned as Rory had to get off of him to reach her cell.

"Hush you," she scolded him.

Logan rolled his eyes and attempted to get off of the comfortable mattress. Rory giggled when the attempt failed.

"Hello?" she answered through her laughter.

"Hey kid!" the other line chirped.

"Hi mom. How are my kids?"

"How are your kids?" her mom repeated, "Your kids are currently stuffing their faces with ice cream. I swear, it almost seems as if they never get any."

"Mom!" Rory shrieked, "It's only noon and you have already given them ice cream?"

Logan was chuckling in the background.

"Well, they were supposed to have it an hour ago, but the Soda Shoppe wasn't open," Lorelai reasoned with her daughter.

"And the fact that the ice cream place wasn't even open yet didn't make you think that it was too early for dessert?"

"It's open now, so apparently some people don't think it's too early."

Rory took a deep breath, "Just make sure that they eat a carrot or an apple later, okay?"

"Deal. So how's Vegas?"

The brunette giggled at the change of subject, "Vegas is good."

"And how is the drama?"

"Thankfully, I am no longer apart of it. It's all Jess's problem now, though I still feel in the middle."

"Oh hon, just hang in there," Lorelai paused and Rory could hear another voice in the background.

"Mom?"

"Oh sorry. Your daughter wants to talk to you."

"Put her on!"

There was a shuffling sound as the phone was being passed to the little girl.

"Mama?"

"Hi baby! How are you? Are you having lots of fun with Nana?"

"Yep! I got ice cream!" Ellie told her mother excitedly.

"I heard. What kind did you get?"

"Chocolate!" she exclaimed proudly.

"That sounds yummy! Are you watching over your brother?"

"Bradin is fine mommy. He got vanilla ice cream, but I got a bigger scoop."

Rory laughed, "Good for you, honey."

"Is daddy there? I wanna say hi!"

"Yes he is. I'll give him the phone, okay? I love you baby girl."

"I love you too mommy!"

Rory handed her cell phone to Logan, "Your beautiful daughter wants to talk to you."

He eagerly reached for the phone, "Hey Elle-Belle!"

Their conversation lasted for a couple minutes and then Logan gave the phone back to his wife, "It's your mom again."

"Hey mom," Rory said into the receiver.

"Hi hon. Bradin says hi, by the way."

"Can you tell him that I love him?"

"Of course I will! And kid, don't let all the unfortunate drama ruin your vacation. I know it sucks, but you should be having fun."

"I am having a lot of fun, I promise," Rory said, trying to convince her mom.

"Oh really?" Lorelai questioned, unimpressed with her daughter's attempt.

"Yes mom, I have. I've been to the pool, the spa, we've been shopping, and we went to this amazing new club last night."

"Okay, okay. I believe you. I've got to go because I've got kids to take care of."

"Bye mom."

"Bye hon," Lorelai said before she hung up.

Rory put down her phone and climbed up next to Logan. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled up onto his chest.

"Your mom seems good. She seems to have the kids under control."

Rory snorted, "Yeah, by feeding them ice cream."

Logan shrugged, "Well, if that method works, then why fight it?"

"Fine, you have a point. I guess I knew she was going to spoil them when we dropped them off," she giggled.

"Exactly. Now, what was with your conversation about having more fun?"

"Oh, well my mother thinks that I need to have more fun while I'm here."

"I couldn't agree more," he whispered huskily, "Why don't we start now?"

He caught her mouth in a slow, passionate kiss, which she replied to with a content sigh.

* * *

Danielle was in the middle of getting ready to go to the pool. She already had on her bathing suit and now she was in the process of packing her bag. Jess walked up behind her, making her jump.

"You scared me!" she exclaimed, placing her hand over her heart.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to," he paused, "Are you going to stop by the signing today?"

"If you want me to, then sure."

"You don't have to unless you want to. It can get a little boring."

"Well, we'll see how the day ends up going," she looked at Jess, "Are you sure you don't want to come down with me? Your signing isn't for a little while."

He shook his head, "Nah...I'm good. Have fun though."

Danielle sighed, "Alright...well, I guess I'll see you later. If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Yeah, I do," he leaned in for a kiss, but she was already heading for the door.

"I have my phone if you need me!" he heard her call before the sound of a slamming door rang in his ears.

Then he was alone...again.

A little while later, Jess was sitting behind a table, looking at the long line that stood before him.

"It will go quick," Olivia said stiffly, obviously still rattled by yesterday's events.

Jess sighed, "Alright."

She was right, it did go quick. Before he knew it, the line had thinned out considerably and it was time for his break. Olivia had avoided him the entire time and only spoke to him when it was absolutely necessary.

She was currently talking to an older couple, whom he assumed were some of her other clients. Jess gathered his courage and walked up to her.

"I have to grab something from my room. When should I be back?"

The words tumbled out quickly. He found himself wondering why he had said that. He didn't need anything from his room!

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him, as if she was surprised he was even talking to her, "In a half hour. The line is already getting long again."

Oh, now he remembered why he said what he said to her. To get her to talk to him.

"Okay. I'll, um...see you in thirty minutes then."

"Yeah," she replied dismissively.

On his way up to his hotel room, he was cursing himself. So he had gotten her talk to him, but he was also on his way to his hotel room for no apparent reason. Crap.

Jess was so into his own thoughts that he didn't realize that he wasn't alone in the room until after she greeted him.

"Hey honey. Are you on your break?" Danielle asked, smiling.

"Uh, yeah," Jess responded numbly, "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged, "The sun was getting too hot for me."

"Oh," he said.

Dani's eyes scrunched up in worry, "Are you okay? You're acting weird."

His head snapped up at her caring tone and his tone softened, "I'm fine babe."

Jess walked over to kiss her cheek. She was still unsure, but she decided to let it go for the moment.

"So, how is the signing going?"

"Good. I'm excited for it to be over though. Then, we might actually get to spend some time together."

She blushed, "I'm excited too. What time are you done?"

"I believe sometime around five. Why? Do you have something to do in mind?"

"Well, Rory said she could get us into the club on the roof. It's extremely exclusive, but she knows people there."

Jess's face fell, "You want to go to the club with them?"

"Well not necessarily _with_ them. Rory is just getting us in, but they'll probably go too, in which case we'll probably hang out with them. Why? Is it as problem?" Danielle asked, confused by his sudden change in demeanor.

"I just don't want any favors from them and I definitely don't want to hang out with them," he responded icily.

"She's your ex-girlfriend, not the plague!"

"That woman is not my ex-girlfriend! The girl I used to date couldn't stand being rich and would rather stay home and read a book rather than come to Las Vegas for the week."

"Things change Jess. You should know that better than anyone! Don't you think that maybe in the last eleven years, she has become a better version of herself? And that maybe, you're too stuck in the past to see it?" Danielle exclaimed, her voice raising towards the end.

"She is becoming her grandmother! Rich and looking down on anybody who is beneath her."

"And how would you know that? If I remember correctly, you've barely spent anytime with her, so you would have no idea what she's like!"

"I know what other people like her are like!" he yelled.

"Well maybe you should live your life more because your judgment is seriously impaired," Danielle grabbed her purse and opened the door, "Have fun being alone tonight."

With that, the door slammed, making Jess wince. He really didn't mean to have their argument spin so out of control. He just couldn't understand how she could defend them, of all people. Just thinking about it made him angrier and he didn't even try to diffuse his mood.

Twenty minutes later, he was back behind the table with his best fake smile positioned on his face. Jess really hoped that no one could sense his anger. They didn't seem to; everyone seemed giddy and walked away from the signing with a book in their hands and a smile on their faces.

By the time the signing was over, Jess was mentally exhausted. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He didn't even notice Olivia until she was sitting next to him.

"You okay?"

"Me and Dani had a huge fight," he stated in monotone.

"Oh..." she replied in understanding, "Come on."

"What?" he asked surprised as he watched her stand up.

Olivia motioned for him to follow her, "Come on."

Jess followed her through the lobby and over to the elevator, neither of them speaking. They rode the elevator up until it dinged and she got out. He curiously followed her until she stopped in front of one of the rooms. Olivia took out a key card and opened the door. Jess's breathing became erratic as he pieced everything together.

"So, this is where I live," she finally said to break the silence.

"Oh," he could feel himself slowly migrating towards her, "It's nice."

"Yeah, well...I get to stay here for free and it's a short commute to work."

"I see."

"Yeah..." Olivia trailed off.

Jess snuck a quick look at her and before he knew it, his lips were on hers. Their kisses were full of hunger and longing; both trying to forget about the world around them and the problems that come with it.

Now, they were working on getting rid of their clothing. Jess's shirt had already been discarded somewhere on the floor and he was working on the buttons of her blouse. As his fingers grazed over each button, his actions became slower; until he stopped completely, the immensity of what they were doing hitting him like a freight train.

"Wait, stop," Jess suddenly said.

"What?" Olivia asked in disbelief.

"Stop. I'm sorry, but I can't do this, not to Danielle. I'm only doing this because I'm upset and that's not fair to you or her."

"O-kay," she replied, obviously embarrassed. She fumbled with the buttons of her shirt, as she was trying to button them up quickly.

Jess looked around the room for his shirt, then he put it on. Although, he was still keeping an eye on Olivia who looked as if she was trying hard to keep herself together. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed out he clothes and ran her hands through her hair.

She walked over to her door and held it open for him, "You should go."

Jess nodded and as he passed her, she whispered a quiet, "I'm sorry."

"I know," Olivia sighed, "I'm sorry too."

With that, she shut the door on him and he stood in the hallway feeling disgusted by himself. The rest of his night was spent in the hotel bar, drinking his worries away.

A few hours later, Jess stumbled his way into his room. Seeing that Danielle was still not back made him want to get even more drunk, but instead he grabbed a blanket and crashed on the couch.

The next morning, Jess had a giant hangover, one he knew would persist throughout the day. He went into the bathroom, after seeing that Danielle was safely tucked into the bed, and took an Advil. Then, he quietly changed, as to not wake up his sleeping girlfriend, and left the room. Jess got into the elevator and rode it to the top floor. He read the numbers on the door and stopped at 6012. After knocking on the door, he braced himself for the hell she was going to give him for waking her up so early. Finally, the door opened and her face turned to confusion.

"Jess?" Rory asked.

"Can we talk?"

* * *

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**Please leave me your opinions because I really want to know what you guys think! You can even get mad at me for taking so long to update if it makes you feel better. :)**

**By the way, sorry if there are any mistakes. I edited this really quickly because I really want it updated.**

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	12. Confessions

Wow guys...I'm so sorry that this took me so long to get up. I was busy, then my computer wasn't working, then I got busy again, and then I just got lazy. But I finally forced myself to sit down and type it out, so here it is. I've got the next chapter halfway done.

Sorry if it's horrible...I'm exhausted and sick, but I really wanted to get this up for you guys. So please excuse any errors.

So this entire story has about two more chapters and epilogue left before it's done. Sad, I know. Hopefully you guys will like the ending.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with it. I thought that would be obvious by now...**

* * *

"_Jess?" Rory asked._

"_Can we talk?"_

"Now?" she said and Jess could see a wave of irritation pass over her face.

"Please?"

She sighed, "Alright, give me a minute to get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs at the breakfast place."

He nodded, "Okay."

Jess turned and walked back down the hallway. He swore that he heard Rory groan before he heard the door click shut.

Fifteen minutes later, Jess was sitting in the _Casino Grill_, waiting for Rory to come down. He really had no idea what he was doing, but somehow he felt that she would have all the answers for him. She used to always encourage him, guide him even, and he hoped she would tell him how to get out of this mess.

He finally saw her, she had actually "dressed up" which is the equivalent of wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Rory was also carrying a large cup of coffee, that was undoubtedly from the Starbucks that was situated on the other side of the lobby.

She sat down and caught him looking strangely at her, "What? You thought I was going to show up in sweats and without coffee?"

Jess continued staring at her, "Something like that..."

"You're seriously off-balance then," she snorted.

The corners of his mouth twitched, though he was trying not to smile, "Are you going to order anything?"

"Well, if I'm going to get through this conversation alive I'm going to have to eat."

Coincidently, the waitress showed up right at that moment, "Hi, I'm Rachel. What can I get you guys?"

"You can order first," Rory said, obviously still contemplating her decision.

He went ahead and ordered (a small meal, he didn't want to overwhelm her), then waited for Rory.

Now, just because Jess went small didn't mean she was going to, "I'll have four pancakes, a waffle, three slices of bacon, a side of eggs, and a side of hashbrowns."

The waitress looked surprised for a fraction of a second, but she held in her comments, "Anything else?"

"Oh! A slice of toast and lots and lots of coffee," Rory closed her menu and smiled up at the waitress, "That's all."

"Alright then,"she said as she collected the menus and hurried back towards the kitchen before they could order any more.

After she was gone, Rory looked back at Jess, "So, what's up?"

He sighed, finding that he had lost his nerve, "I...made a mistake."

Rory looked him straight in the eye, "Are you sure?"

Jess didn't even have to ponder the question, "Yes. I'm sure."

"Oh, Jess," Rory groaned. He was surprised that she already seemed to know what happened. Jess would recognize her 'I'm-disappointed-in-you' voice anywhere.

"I know," he sighed in response.

"How could you do this to her!" she half-whispered, half-screamed at him.

'Maybe this wasn't the best idea...' he thought to himself.

"Well?!"

"It just...happened. And it was a huge mistake that I completely regret."

"You're damn right it was a mistake!" her voice raising slightly, "Danielle is a sweet girl and she goes not deserve this, Jess."

"I know she doesn't deserve this! That's why I'm here Rory, because I love her and I don't want to lose her."

Rory took a long hard look at him. He looked exhausted and at a loss of what to do. She felt her heart soften; she could tell that he really did love Danielle with all his heart.

"Alright, what happened?" she asked taking a deep breath.

This is what he was afraid of. He didn't necessarily want to relive the event.

"I don't know. Danielle and I had fought earlier in the day and I was a little depressed and angry. Anyways, Olivia noticed-," Jess paused, "-do you know who she is?"

"Yes I know who she is," Rory replied impatiently, "Continue."

"She took me up to her hotel room- she lives here- and then..." he trailed off feeling uncomfortable.

Not satisfied, Rory prodded him farther, "And then?"

"And then I kissed her and she kissed me back. Then our clothes were coming off, but I stopped her. It didn't go any farther than that."

She breathed a sigh of relief, 'Thank god you have a conscience in there somewhere."

"What?" He just told his ex-girlfriend that he had cheated on his present girlfriend with a woman he had met only a couple days earlier. He was kind of expecting a different reaction.

"You stopped her Jess. You could have continued and taken that extra step, but you didn't. You stopped. Jess, if we were eighteen years old again and back in Stars Hollow, you wouldn't have stopped."

He immediately felt guilty for his actions towards her when he was younger and at odds with the world, "Rory-"

But she raised a hand to stop him, "It's okay. I got over it a long time ago but Jess, you've changed, in a good way of course. I look at you and you're...good. You seem happy; you're an author and you have an amazing girlfriend. I have never been more proud of you."

Jess didn't want to admit it but Rory's praise meant everything to him. She had seen him at his worst and now she finally got to see him at his best. It felt good.

"So you're not going to mess that up because of your stupid and idiotic mistake," she finished with finality.

"Then what do I do?" he asked.

"You tell her and hope for the best."

"Um...what?" Again, he was dumbfounded by her words. He was expecting some elaborate plan that consisted of winning back the girl's heart and living happily ever after. Not, 'tell her and hope for the best'. To him, that seemed like a suicide mission. Danielle would be on a plane back to LA before he had the chance to explain.

"You. Tell. Her," Rory punctuated, not understanding Jess's hesitancy towards the plan. But then it dawned on her, "You weren't going to tell her."

He shrugged, "Well, why hurt her if it didn't even mean anything? It would be better not to open that can of worms."

She looked at him incredulously, "She's going to find out Jess and it's going to hurt a hell of a lot more if she finds out later, rather than if you just tell her now."

"And how's she going to find out Rory?"

"Women know things. It's like a sixth sense. We're just able to tell when something happens, so I advise you to tell her or I guarantee there is no way you're getting her back."

Jess sighed, he had way too many things running through his head. Should he tell her? Should he risk hurting her? Could he risk it? He knew that Rory was right, the only way that they would ever be able to move forward would be for him to tell her. Or else they would still be stuck in their Vegas hotel room, arguing over her choice of friends.

"Alright," he said almost reluctantly, "I'll tell her."

Rory shot him a sympathetic smile, "Good."

Right then Rachel, their waitress, came out with their large breakfast. After the food had been distributed, the two exes ate in silence. Rory was watching Jess carefully; he was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice.

She cleared her throat, "You're doing good Jess. You're still an idiot, but you're doing good."

"Oh thanks," he replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious," she laughed, "and I am proud of you."

Jess gave her a small smile and a nod of his head. He sighed again, "Do you ever think about how things would have been different if I had never left?"

Rory stayed quiet for a minute and when she finally spoke, her voice was soft, "I used to, you know, back when you first left."

"And now?"

"No. I guess as the years passed, I stopped focusing on the past and looked towards the future. I met new people, I met Logan, and before I knew it the past was in fact, the past."

"You're happy, right? With your life I mean," Jess wondered aloud.

"Yeah, I am," she replied softly, "I really, really am Jess."

He chuckled, "I can't believe I don't even know how the two of you even met."

She raised her eyebrows, "Do you really want to know? Or are you just saying that to be polite?"

"Uh..." he faltered, "You know, yes. I do want to know."

"Okay, you're in for it. We met through Stephanie freshman year. He was a well-known playboy so I didn't show any interest in dating him at all, but all of us, me, Steph, Logan, Colin, and Finn, became really close friends. Anyways, sophomore year rolled around and I got out of a bad relationship. I really wasn't interested in dating anyone, so I decided to have some fun."

Jess smirked as her face flushed red with embarressment.

"One night, it was just the two of us and we had a little too much to drink and...yeah," Rory was seriously blushing now, "We started seeing each other casually, you know, non-exclusively, for a couple months, but after a while I just couldn't do it anymore. It definitely wasn't his fault or anything and I didn't regret it, but I think I was finally ready to go back to dating."

"So how did you go from being 'done', to being married?" he interrupted.

She shot him a look, "Well if you let me finish I would tell you."

"Oh right. Sorry, continue."

"Anyways, I went to his dorm to tell him that we needed to go back to being 'just friends' and he might of seen it as an ultimatum," Rory smiled at the memory, "He basically told me that if he wanted to be a boyfriend, he could. And now...we're here."

"Well, that is one hell of a story," Jess exclaimed.

"Tell me about it. Imagine having to tell it to everyone who asks."

He chuckled, "Aww...poor Rory."

She giggled along with him.

When their laughter subsided, a heavy silence descended upon them. Both of them were thinking about their previous conversation, the first real one they had had in a long time.

Finally Rory spoke, "So, you can see why I never really thought about the past. I was already way into my future."

Jess just nodded, actually understanding her explanation. Though one question was bothering him: "Do you think things _would_ have been different?"

"Maybe for a little while," Rory sighed, "but Jess, we were way too different. I was heading off to Yale while you had flunked out of high school."

He cringed at the memory. She noticed.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "What I'm trying to say is that we were on completely different paths and I don't think we would have made it in the real world."

"What do you mean the 'real world'?" Jess asked, honestly curious.

"In Stars Hollow it was easy. We were basically living in La La Land. Don't get me wrong, I love it there, but we weren't necessarily presented with any huge changes. We just cruised along and tried to get over any bumps we encountered. Although with those bumps, we had to make up because living in a small town made it impossible not to."

"I guess...sometimes I wish that I could go back though."

She snorted, "No you don't and I don't either."

"Why not?" he asked angrily, "Things were easy back then."

"Things weren't easy! It was so far from easy that you wouldn't be able to touch easy with a ten-foot pole."

"Okay, so it wasn't exactly easy, but it was good, right? We were good for a while."

"Yeah Jess, we were for a little while."

"Then what happened?"

"Life got in the way."

* * *

**Review?**


	13. Hoes Before Bros

Yes I am still alive! Sorry for the late update. You guys should go thank JJsMommy27 for being amazing and reminding me to type up this chapter. Or else I probably would have pushed it farther back into my mind.

By the way, finals and last minute research papers are coming up this month so bare with me guys. This story has only one last chapter, than an epilogue, and then this story will be officially done.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. I still do not understand why this needs to be clarified, but oh well.**

* * *

Shortly afterwards, his breakfast with Rory ended. She had wanted to get back up to her room and she told him that he needed to tell Danielle right away. So that's why he was currently stationed outside his hotel room door, trying to convince himself to go in. Finally, plucking up the courage to go in, he slowly opened the door.

Inside, Dani was already fully dressed and sitting on the couch watching TV. The discarded food dishes on the coffee table indicated that she had already ordered and eaten breakfast.

"Hey," she greeted, her voice emotionless, "Where have you been?"

"With Rory. I had to talk to her about some stuff."

"Oh…" She trailed off leaving an awkward silence.

"How was last night?" Jess stalled.

"Good. It was an amazing club, kind of unreal, but a lot of fun."

"Unreal?" he questioned.

"Yeah. It was really modern and a little futuristic. And the new was amazing. All the sides were windows and they looked down on the strip. It was breathtaking."

"Well, it sounds like you had a good time."

"Yeah, I did," Danielle paused, "What about you?"

"Hm?" he asked absentmindedly.

"What did you do yesterday? You were crashed on the couch when I got back."

Jess sighed, "That's what I need to talk to you about."

His girlfriend started to blink rapidly, probably trying to hold back tears. She seemed to be expecting something bad. Jess guessed that Rory was right about girls being able to sense things.

"Oh?" Danielle asked in a high voice.

"I kissed Olivia."

It was as if time stood still. Jess didn't know what to say and no words came out of Danielle's mouth, although she tried to talk several times. The silence was deafening and he just needed her to say something, anything to let him know where her head was at.

"Dani?" he asked, reaching out towards her.

"Don't. Touch. Me," she spit out venomously, making his hand recoil almost instantly.

Jess knew she would be upset, he even expected it, but seeing her this upset and knowing he was the cause broke his heart into a million little pieces.

"I'm not that girl Jess. I'm not a trophy or a prize or someone who will overlook everything just because I want to be with you. I have my life, my job, and my friends, truthfully I don't need you. I'm not clingy, I'm independent…"

"I know that hun-"

She put a hand up to stop him from interrupting and continued, "I'm with you because I love you, but this is the last straw. As much as it's going to shake the ground beneath my feet, I am not going to compromise myself or my values for you. I'm better than that and I know it."

Jess stood speechless. He could not have heard her right. She was leaving him? Just because of one kiss that didn't even mean anything? No, he must have heard wrong. He knew she was independent, but leaving just because of that seemed a tiny bit extreme.

"What?" he asked dumbly, still a bit shell-shocked.

Danielle rose slowly from her spot on the couch, "I think I'm going to fly back to Los Angeles. I can book a flight for tonight, so all my stuff will be out of here this afternoon. I'll have to call the studio to let them know I'm coming home. Oh…I guess that means I can do that wedding next week…"

She always did this when she got upset; she tended to try and control everything when there was one huge thing that she couldn't. Such as when her father had a heart attack a few months back.

Dani had called their lawyer, the restaurant that they ate dinner at to cancel the reservations, and she got his will all ready to go. She tried avoiding the entire situation by filling her time with meaningless activities. It wasn't until he was cleared to go home that she finally let herself break down and cry. Jess was afraid of the inevitable break down that she would be experiencing after she stopped to think.

"Danielle, please don't leave. We can work this out. We just have to sit down and talk about everything."

But she continued to walk away, "No, I really have to get of here. I'll send movers to get my stuff from the apartment tomorrow. Oh, I have to find somewhere to live."

"Danielle!" Jess yelled over her rambling, making her stop.

"What?" she asked and he could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

He sighed, "Just please…don't go."

"Jess…I can't stay here. You cheated on me! I trusted you, probably more than I've ever trusted anybody before. But you ruined that, and I just can't deal with that right now."

"Danielle, please," he pleaded with her.

She paused and Jess could see that she was contemplating everything that had just happened. Finally, she relaxed her shoulders and took a deep breath while Jess was holding his.

"I've got some things to think about Jess. Just give me a little time."

"Okay, I can do that," he watched as she walked towards the door, "Where are you going?"

"The pool." At his confused expression, she explained further, "I've got my bathing suit on under my clothes. Hopefully the water will give me a fresh perspective on the situation…"

With that she just left. No goodbye, no I'll talk to you later, just the echo of the door closing and the sound of Jess sinking into the chair beside the couch.

* * *

Logan came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her lean body, "Hey babe."

"Hey!" Rory turned around and kissed his lips, "You're up."

"Yeah, the arrival of a certain someone this morning got me up."

"Well he got me up too, so it wasn't only you," she laughed.

"How did that go? And why in the world did he have to come so early in the morning?"

"He needed to talk to me about some things; stuff from the past and advice for the future. You were right about him and Olivia. He cheated on Danielle." The disgust was obvious in her voice.

"Whoa…he what?" Logan was definitely shocked. Sure, he had seen the two of them together and they had seemed…chummy to him, but he didn't actually think Jess would do anything. At least not to Danielle. It was obvious by his actions when he was around his girlfriend that he really did love her.

"Yeah, it didn't go very far; just a heated kiss because he stopped it before it could go any farther. I'm so proud of him in that respect, but he still cheated on her. I mean, how is she going to deal with that?"

Logan just shrugged. He really had no idea what to say to her.

"I'm expecting that she might want to talk to me about it today. Hopefully it's not awkward between us. I really, really liked Danielle and she was good for Jess too."

Surprisingly, at that moment they heard another knock at the door. Rory walked over and opened it, then found that she was face-to-face with the woman they had just been talking about. She had tearstains on her cheeks and more tears were threatening to flow out, "I know you're probably busy and have got better things to do, but do you think you can listen to my problems?"

Rory just smiled at her softly, "Of course. Why don't you come in and I'll change into my bathing suit really quick."

Danielle agreed and stood in the living area awkwardly as Logan looked on. As the two of them made small talk, never once mentioning Jess, Rory sent a quick text to Stephanie and Shannon telling them to meet her by the pool in ten minutes. She changed as quickly as she could then met her newest friend back out in the main room.

While walking down, she could tell that Danielle was in deep thought. She had not said a word since they left the hotel room and the way she was acting seemed almost like she wasn't really there; as if she were just going through the motions. Rory lightly nudged her, "Are you sure that you want to talk?"

"Yeah…I have no idea what to do."

"Okay," the brunette spotted the other girls and the two lounge chairs that they had reserved for them, "Come on, they're over there."

As they walked over, Stephanie greeted them with a cheerful hello. But then she began to sense the tension and her smile morphed into a frown.

"What happened?" she asked automatically.

Rory didn't say anything because she knew that this was something that Danielle had to face head on. She waited until the other girl finally spoke, "He cheated on me."

Steph gasped and even Shannon had wide eyes.

"He did?!" the blond exclaimed. She had come to like and respect Danielle as a friend and she couldn't believe this happened to her.

"Yup. He didn't sleep with her but he did kiss her."

She dropped down on the chair in defeat. Her head went directly into her hands to try and stop herself from crying.

Rory sighed and rubbed comforting circles on her back, just like her mom did whenever she felt sad or lonely.

"Shhh…it's going to be okay hun, everything is going to turn out okay. You'll see."

Dani lifted her head up and wiped away her tears, "I don't know what to do though. As much as he hurt me and as much as I never want to see him again, I still love him."

Stephanie exchanged a confused look with Rory, then spoke, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that through everything, I could forgive him. It would take a little while to gain that trust back but I could go back to him. And that scares me because I've never been the type of girl that needs a guy in order to be happy."

Rory sighed, "Trust me, I don't condone cheating and maybe you should get the hell out of here and move on with your life. But here is the catch, you love him. So maybe you shouldn't give up on the two of you quite yet."

"But..." Danielle tried interrupting but the brunette wouldn't allow it.

"This is coming from a girl who has been hurt by Jess before. I think I might have loved him, to this day I'm not completely sure, but I wasn't in love with him. So when he finally came back, it was easy to not even care. But if you love him you shouldn't give up yet."

Everyone was quiet and Rory wasn't sure if they agreed with her or viewed her advice as crazy talk. Finally, Shannon decided to give her two cents.

"I agree," she said softly, "To you it may seem like you're being anti-feminist by going back to the guy that cheated on you, but a lot of times it's the opposite. It takes a lot of strength to listen to your heart instead of your head."

"She's right, you know," Stephanie smiled, "Listening to your heart is about as easy as trying to become the president of the United States. You can want to all you want but that doesn't mean you will."

"Yeah…I guess so."

"Now that doesn't mean that you give him a free pass," Stephanie chuckled, "Make him sweat over it for a little while, make him work to get back your trust. Keep him on his toes, but don't give up so fast. It's obvious that he loves you and everyone knows that Vegas makes a person do crazy things."

Rory laughed, "Oh, you've got that right. The first time we came here, we woke up the next day with huge hangovers and we were in the wrong hotel."

Danielle giggled a little bit at her memory, exactly what Rory was aiming for. She just wanted to get a smile back on her face. But soon enough her face fell again, "But is that really enough? Just make him worry a bit and then blame it all on the thrill of Las Vegas? I feel like I would be cheating myself."

"Now, now, that's not what the three of us are saying Dani," the blond corrected her, "Don't just blame it all on Vegas. I say take a break. Maybe go back to Los Angeles and come out and visit Jess on the road every once and a while. And then slowly you guys will get back to the good place that you were in before. And then when he eventually comes home for good, you guys can really work things out."

Shannon nodded, "Yeah. And you have us to talk to about all this too. You should definitely come visit all three of us one of these days."

"Definitely! Anytime you want to come out, just give me a call and I'll have Logan fix everything up. You just have to meet my kids. I think you would love them. And they love new people, so you would probably become their new favorite person."

For the first time that morning, the smile on Danielle's face didn't go away. It remained there, shining bright, "That sounds amazing."

That just goes to show that the person who came up with 'hoes before bros' was a complete genius.

* * *

**Soooo…what did you guys think? Were you surprised? Happy? Mad? Tell me your thoughts by dropping me a lovely, extremely appreciated review. :)**

**I don't know when the next chapter is going to be up, I've got a VERY busy couple of weekends coming up so we'll see how much time I'll get to write inside of class.**


	14. We'll Be Okay

So, I lied. I thought I would be able to fit the end of this story into this chapter but I got inspired and took it in a different direction. Therefore, the next chapter will be the last before the epilogue.

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. I also do not own Grey's Anatomy/Derek Sheperd/Patrick Dempsey, no matter how much I wish that were different.**

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* * *

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An entire two days had passed since Danielle told Jess she was leaving. That day, she had called the airline to inquire about a flight back to Los Angeles, but unfortunately, they were completely booked. She had found that extremely surprising, but she took it as a sign. So instead, she booked another room inside of the hotel.

Danielle had spent the majority of the last couple days on her own, just contemplating everything. Sometimes she joined Rory and Logan and everyone else for dinner or lunch, but for the most part she kept to herself.

Currently she was walking back up to her room after taking a refreshing walk throughout the hotel. As she got on the elevator, she realized that she wasn't alone.

"Hey."

"Hi," she replied nervously.

He stuck out his hand for her to shake, "I'm Sam."

As she took his hand she responded, "Danielle."

He was definitely cute. He had tousled brown hair, soft blue eyes, and a nice body. Hey, she was a girl, she noticed those things.

"How long are you here for?" Sam asked her.

"I…haven't decided yet."

"Ahhh…using Vegas to escape from your problems? Welcome to the club."

She laughed, "Yeah…it's something like that."

All of a sudden the elevator dinged, signaling that they had arrived at Danielle's floor. They both looked regretfully out into the hallway.

"Well this is me."

Before she could leave however, Sam stopped her, "Do you maybe want to grab a bite to eat later? We could meet in the restaurant in the lobby."

She took a deep breath and took a chance, "Sure. I'll meet you there at six."

Sam glanced at the elevator doors we was holding open. They were fighting to close, "I better let these doors close before they kill me. I'll see you later Danielle."

"Bye," she smiled as the doors finally closed. The smile stayed on her face until she reached the confines of her own hotel room. Then she sunk to the floor and cried.

~_xoxo_~

"Logan!" Rory screamed, the laughter engulfing her entire body.

"Hold on!" her husband yelled back at her.

The entire gang was in the pool and somehow they had ended up in a chicken fight. One minute they were talking about the political reign of Obama and the next, Stephanie was yelling 'chicken fight!' She had climbed up onto Finn's shoulders while Rory climbed onto Logan's. Colin and Shannon, being the mature ones of the group, were too embarrassed to join in on their fun. Although, they did help by cheering them on quietly, but enthusiastically as well.

Both Finn and Stephanie were determined to bring down their opponents. Rory and Logan just wanted to make sure that their friends didn't earn 'we-beat-you-guys-in-the-chicken-fight' bragging rights for the next few years.

"Ready hun?" Logan yelled, "We're going to go for them in 1…2…3!"

They charged and Rory was able to latch on to Stephanie's arms. They wrestled for a bit, with the guys doing the same below them until Rory was finally able to send the laughing Steph tumbling into the water.

"We won!" Rory yelled triumphantly. For some strange reason, winning this game made her feel on top of the word at the moment. She missed when she could do this (or anything like it) without getting strange looks from the other people occupying the pool; when they would all just brush it off as college kids having a good time.

Rory shook herself back to reality because of the argument that was occurring between Finn and Stephanie.

"Why did you fall, love?" the Australian exclaimed.

"Because I wanted to go in the water," she responded sarcastically, "Why did you think? She pushed me off!"

"Why didn't you hold on then?"

"I was just a little busy with my hands Finn."

"I can't believe we lost," he grumbled.

Rory, along with Logan, Colin, and Shannon, just chuckled at their friends' behavior. Only they would get this upset over the fact that they lost a chicken fight. When the two of them had finally calmed down and it had come to silent glares between them, Rory realized that they would soon have to go back home, back to reality.

"It's been a great trip guys," she sighed, "I wish we could do this more often."

"Who says we can't?" Stephanie exclaimed, "I say we make it into an annual thing. Once a year for a week, we can go anywhere in the world and have the vacation of our lives."

"I'm in loves, as long as there is alcohol of course," Finn said and then he looked at his girlfriend, "What about you? Are you in?"

She laughed, "Yes, I'm in. It sounds amazing."

Then the blond turned back to Rory and Logan, "We only need two more yeses, you know, since Colin will do whatever I ask him to."

Colin scoffed, but he didn't say anything to rebut the statement. He knew just as well as anyone that his wife was right. He would do absolutely anything for that girl, even if that meant taking a break from his busy work life to go on vacation with her and all his best friends.

Rory glanced at Logan, but he just shrugged and gave her a look that meant 'whatever-you-want-to-do-is-fine-with-me'.

Finally she came to a decision, "Alright Steph, it's a plan. But I don't want it to be any longer than a week. I would miss my kids way too much."

"Oh same here, definitely. I would miss my baby girl. I do miss her in fact," Stephanie replied.

Rory felt better about the situation after hearing her best friend say that. A week away from them already had her missing her regular life. As much as she loved all of the clubs, the spa, and the pool, she definitely missed how Ellie would crawl into their bed at six in the morning on some mornings. Or how Bradin would beg her to sing to him everyday.

She just missed it; although, that didn't mean she didn't love the vacation. Maybe making this an annual thing wasn't such a bad idea…

"Hey guys," Finn said suddenly, "Do you remember that one trip to the Alps in college? Good times, good time."

Everyone burst out laughing, except for Shannon who had not been a part of that trip.

"Finn, do you mean the one where you ran butt-naked through the snow?" Rory asked him, still laughing.

"Yes love, that would be the one."

"Oh, the Life and Death Brigade. Those were some of the best years of my life," Logan sighed, but then he realized that his wife was raising her eyebrows at him so he quickly corrected himself, "You know, besides the years that are spent with you and my wonderful kids."

Rory smiled, "Nice save."

"Awww…you two are seriously the cutest married couple ever," Stephanie gushed.

Logan gave Rory a tight squeeze, "Yeah, we know."

His wife looked around at all of her friends and smiled. They were happy and healthy and they would be friends for the rest of their lives. She could just feel it. Friends like these didn't just go away. Sure, maybe their lives might take them in different directions; kids and work would keep them apart sometimes, but they would always be there for each other. They just would.

"We're going to be okay guys, even if we didn't get these vacations, we're going to be okay," Rory said thoughtfully.

Stephanie nodded, "Yup. We're all going to be fine. But you have to admit that the vacations do help."

Everyone just laughed at her comment because of course she would say something like that.

"Yes love, they help," Finn said through his laughter.

~_xoxo_~

Danielle nervously straightened out dress. She couldn't help but fidget every couple of seconds. She kept asking herself why she was even going through with this. Technically she had a boyfriend, sure they were on a break, but should she really be doing this? Did going out with this guy make her a hypocrite?

All she wanted was to find out what she was feeling. For some reason, she felt like if she just went through with this date, all of a sudden her mind would be clear. All she needed was some kind of sign that would tell what was the right and wrong thing to do.

Finally taking a deep breath, she walked slowly into the restaurant. She took a quick look around before she spotted Sam sitting at a table towards the back. Dani nodded to the hostess as she passed letting her know that she didn't need a table.

Walking up to her date, she placed a smile on her face that was half real-half fake, "Hi Sam."

He quickly stood up and pulled out her chair for her.

'_What a gentleman,' she thought._

"Danielle! I'm glad that you could make it."

"I'm glad too," she smiled and sat down as Sam did the same.

It was a little awkward, but she just chalked it up to the fact that it was the first date…if you could even call it that. She played around with her napkin and twisted her hands in her lap.

Sam cleared his throat, "So what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a photographer. I actually have my own studio and everything."

"That's awesome. I love photography; the images that you can capture in a picture are just amazing."

Danielle raised her eyebrows. She was surprised by the passion in his voice; not a lot of people talked about photography in that way.

"Yeah, I love it. It's definitely a fun job," she smiled and then realized that in order to keep the conversation going, she better ask him some questions as well, "So what do you do?"

"I'm a doctor, a neurological surgeon to be exact."

She was surprised, she didn't exactly peg him as the doctor type. But the harder she looked at him, the more she realized that he did have a sort of a Derek Sheperd-esque quality about him. He could be her very own McDreamy.

"That's fantastic! Do you work here in Las Vegas?"

"No. I actually work at the main hospital in New York, but I flew here for a special case."

"That's really great. Talk about rewarding. How do you know so much about photography?"

He laughed, "Well my older sister is a photographer, so she always comes to me with her new pieces."

"Oh okay. I was just curious, you don't meet a lot of people who really get the immensity of photographs. But I'm sure you get the same reactions about your surgeries."

"Yeah, I guess they do…" he trailed off.

The rest of the dinner was filled with conversation and a couple instances of awkward silence. Overall, the night didn't turn out bad. Danielle would even go as far to say that it was actually a nice date. But she couldn't help but let her mind wander to Jess every couple minutes. What would he think about her date? Would he be disappointed? Would he be angry? A part of her couldn't help but hope that he would feel a little bit of the hurt that she felt.

It was towards the end of the date when the waitress brought them their dessert. Danielle was eating it quietly when Sam finally spoke up.

"Okay, so who is he?"

Startled, she looked up, "What?"

"I grew up with four sisters; I know what heartbreak looks like," he said softly, "So, are you going to tell me or what?"

Danielle looked at him and realized that he was being serious. He really did want her to tell him all about another guy on their date. She took a breath, "Okay. So, I've been dating this guy for a long time and things have gotten really serious. We live together and everything. Anyway, he's on a book tour, so I'm tagging along."

She noticed that Sam was still paying attention, motivating her to go on, "We ran into his ex-girlfriend while we were here and things got really awkward. I started hanging out with her and her friends because I didn't have anything else to do until he was done with the book signing. He got kind of upset and really pulled away from me. And then he kissed another girl."

"He kissed another girl?"

"Yeah, and now I don't know what to do. I still love him and I could easily forgive him if I wanted to, but I don't know if I want to."

"Can I ask you to do something?"

Dani was a little surprised, but she accepted his offer.

"Close your eyes and picture your wedding. Picture yourself walking down the aisle and reaching to where the groom stands."

She did as she was told, "Alright."

"Who do you see standing as your groom?"

Danielle kept closing her eyes and tried to picture it. Then she saw him.

"Jess."

~_xoxo_~

**One more chapter until the epilogue! I hope you guys like this chapter.**

**Review?**


	15. Going Home

So, last chapter! I knew I said that there was going to be an epilogue, but I changed my mind. Something that I do a lot. Sorry that I keep changing what I'm going to do, but I really love how I ended this chapter, so I decided to end the entire story here.

I hope you like it and I really hope that you enjoyed this story.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with the show. No, duh.**

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Danielle was on her way up to Jess's hotel room. She had apologized to Sam profusely, but explained that this dinner was a bad idea in the first place. Surprisingly, he understood and told her that if she ever needed someone to talk to that she should call him.

She didn't think that would go over too well with Jess, but she took his number anyway, just in case. Danielle didn't know why she had decided to just forgive Jess, it could possibly be a bad idea and he could just end up hurting her all over again in the end. But she did. She followed her heart and she actually felt good about her decision.

Go figure.

When she finally reached his door, she hesitated. Was she absolutely positive that she wanted to do this?

No she wasn't completely sure about it, but she raised her hand to knock on the door anyway.

It took a minute for him to finally open it, but when he did it brought an involuntary smile to her face.

"Dani?" he said, obviously surprised to see her.

"Hey…can we talk?"

"Oh, um…sure," he opened the door a little wider to let her in, "Make yourself comfortable."

She walked in slowly and awkwardly sat down on the couch. She fiddled around with her hands until she realized that Jess was waiting for her to start talking, "Oh…right. Well, um…I've done a lot of thinking over the past couple of days. A lot of thinking. Painstakingly, slow thinking that made my head hurt countless times."

She laughed softly, as Jess chuckled, "And what did you come to conclude?"

"I'm going to go back to Los Angeles for a little while."

The smile on Jess's face was replaced instantly with a frown. Obviously he wasn't expecting this news when she walked into his hotel room. In fact, he was hoping that the fact that she had even showed up to talk to him gave their relationship hope.

"Oh."

"It's not like that!" she said quickly after realizing that she had given him the wrong impression, "It's just that I think we should give each other a little bit of space. At least for a little while."

"So…we're taking a break?" he asked, trying to comprehend what his girlfriend (was that what she was?) was telling him.

Danielle sighed, "No. Not a break…just space from each other. I'll go back to Los Angeles and work, and then I'll meet up with you on the road in different cities. I'm just doing this so I don't follow you around the entire book tour."

"What about Stars Hollow? We had plans to go there. Luke is expecting to meet you and everything."

"I'll still go to Stars Hollow! I want to go, it's just I can't spend the entire book tour with you, Jess. I really need to clear my head. This is not a break up; it's not even a break from each other. It's just us getting space from each other."

"But-"

"I've become so attached to you, it's insane. I don't like the feeling, so I need to find the me that is independent. The old me. And unfortunately, I can't do that if I'm around you 24/7. Just please, tell me that you'll go along with this. I need you to."

Jess looked her over. He took in her pleading expression, the tears that were threatening to come out, and the way that she held herself in his presence. He had no choice but to go along with it. He couldn't hurt her anymore than he already had.

"Okay. We'll take some space."

"Thank you, Jess. Seriously…thank you." She stood up and hesitantly wrapped her arms around his body. He was surprised at first; he hadn't expected her to be so open with him so soon. But he cautiously returned her embrace. When she didn't pull away, in fact she nuzzled closer into him, he gripped her harder, never wanting to let go.

"Jess?" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"I think I'm going to stay here tonight. My room doesn't have a very good view."

Jess knew that was code for, '_I miss you_,' but he didn't want to scare her off so he just answered with a simple, "Well thankfully my room has a pretty fantastic view."

"I would have to go get my stuff."

"I can come with you. It would be a nice walk."

She looked up into his eyes and smiled slightly, "Do you think we can order in some room service? I never got the chance to eat dinner."

"Anything for you."

**_~xoxo~_**

"I don't want to go," Stephanie pouted.

"Come on Steph, we'll be back eventually," Rory said soothingly.

They were standing in the middle of the lobby, waiting for the boys to officially check them out of the hotel. The lobby was strangely not busy, so they were able to take the time to look around and to take in the sights of it for the last time that trip.

"Couldn't we just bring Vegas home with us? I could build a bigger backyard to put it in."

"No Stephanie," the brunette laughed, "we cannot bring Las Vegas home with us. That's why it's called a vacation spot. We come here for vacation."

The blond turned to Shannon, "You would do it with me, right? You would help me bring Las Vegas home."

"Um…" she grinned, "sure I would help you. Just tell me who I need to call."

She was about to respond when Colin wrapped his arms around her from the back, "Ready to go babe?"

"No!"

Logan chuckled, "It looks like someone doesn't want to leave…"

"Shut up, Logan, you know that you want to stay too."

He just shook his head, not in the mood to be at the receiving end of her sadness about leaving.

"Hey guys!" The group turned and looked in the direction from which the voice emanated. They saw Jess and Danielle coming towards them, holding hands.

"I see you two worked things out," Rory said thoughtfully.

Danielle smiled, "For the most part, yes we did."

"Where are you guys heading now?"

"Well I'm going back to Los Angeles and Jess is heading towards Arizona for the next leg of his book tour."

Stephanie piped in, "I hope that you guys at least had a semi-good time. It is Vegas after all."

The couple looked from the group to themselves, then back to the group. "Las Vegas is definitely an…interesting city; one that probably won't be forgotten for a long time."

"You've got that right," his girlfriend said, trying her best not to think of the things that _did _go on during this vacation. It was easier to learn to get past it, than it was to dwell on it. Things happened that she didn't like, but did that mean that she should just stop living? No. It was a lesson, it was an obstacle that they were able to get past.

Now it was time to move on with their lives.

"When does your flight leave?" Dani asked the group.

"In about four hours. We were going to head to lunch beforehand; plane food is only good if it is peanuts. Oh, and I guess the pretzels are pretty good too," Rory replied, "Do you guys want to join us?"

The other girl gave her a soft smile, "We would love to, but my flight is in an hour and a half and Jess's is in an hour. We'd miss our flight."

"Thanks for inviting us though," Jess said, attempting to sound grateful for the invite. It wasn't that his thank you wasn't sincere; he just knew that it would be extremely awkward. He couldn't help but be thankful that his flight was in an hour.

"Sure," Rory smiled, "So, we'll see you guys around?"

"Of course. I'm meeting Jess in Stars Hollow, so maybe you can show me around the town. Something tells me that my boyfriend isn't very familiar with the town. He says that it isn't his favorite place on Earth."

The brunette giggled, "I'll definitely show you around. I'll take you to all the local hotspots. Stars Hollow can get pretty crazy."

"I bet," she glanced at her watch and then turned to Jess, "Hun we have to go if you're going to make your flight."

"Oh okay." He reached down to pick up their bags, "I'll leave you guys to say goodbye. Dani, I'll meet you by the taxi."

"Okay babe, I'll be out in just a minute."

As Jess walked away, Rory looked thoughtfully after him before deciding that he deserved a goodbye. "I'll be right back," she said, "Danielle, don't go anywhere until I say goodbye."

She jogged to catch up with her ex-boyfriend, "Did you really think that you were going to leave without saying goodbye?"

He glanced at her, "I didn't want to intrude. I don't think a lot of you guys like me."

"They don't love you, but is that really a surprise?"

"I guess not…"

"Come here." Rory wrapped him in a quick hug, and then she whispered, "You and Dani are going to turn out okay. I can feel it."

He smiled while he was holding her, "Thanks Ms. Gilmore."

"Hey," she laughed pulling away, "It's Mrs. Gilmore-Huntzberger now."

"Oh of course, how could I forget?" He looked outside, "I have to go get a taxi, and I swear I'm going to be so late for my flight."

"Okay, I'll let you go. Stay out of trouble," she winked.

"Back at you."

He began to walk away, but he was stopped for the last time by the brunette's voice, "Hey Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Your book was amazing," she smiled.

He sighed. He didn't think that she would ever realize exactly how much that meant to him, "Thanks Rory."

She was grinning as she walked back to where everyone was standing. Danielle had already said her goodbyes to everyone and now she was just waiting for Rory.

"Danielle," Rory said, opening her arms up to her.

She obliged to the friendly hug, "It was wonderful meeting you Rory."

"You too. Call me anytime you are back on the east coast, we could go get lunch or something."

"Same with you. Anytime you find yourself on the great west coast, let me know."

"I definitely will," she pulled away, "You better get going, Jess is getting anxious."

She laughed, "I probably should. Goodbye everyone! Thank you for letting me tag along with you guys this week. You saved me from boredom."

"You're welcome," the entire group said, just not exactly in sync.

"Bye!" Danielle said one last time before heading out of the lobby and into the outside beyond the hotel.

"This is it guys," Stephanie said, "As soon as we walk out of those doors we're no longer on vacation."

"We've still got to eat lunch," Logan responded, "That still counts as vacation."

"Does it?" Finn asked.

"Of course it does! Logan is right; we've still got time to be on vacation. Plus, just because we're going home today doesn't mean that this is the end of an adventure. Every single day is an adventure," Rory said enthusiastically.

"Exactly," Shannon agreed with a smile.

"Stephanie, love, what do you say to all of this?" Finn wondered.

She paused before responding, "I say that they're right. Who knows what home is going to bring."

"That's the spirit!" Rory smiled, "When we walk out of those lobby doors there are going to be no frowns, no pouting, we're going to stay happy. Agreed?"

"Agreed," everyone said with a smile on their faces.

"Okay then, let's go best friends."

Rory grabbed Logan's hand, who linked arms with Stephanie, who was already holding on to Colin, who joined hands with Shannon and then she intertwined her hands with Finn's. And together, as one big group, they strode to the edge of the lobby. They all paused, for only a second, contemplating the fact that they were leaving to go back to real life, but then they kept walking, out into the world beyond the walls of the hotel in Las Vegas.

They were headed towards their next adventure; one that they were sure was going to come sooner or later.

And they finally realized, once they stepped out onto the sidewalk that this entire time they had all just been following fate.

**_~xoxo~_**

**Soooo…what did you guys think about the ending? Cheesy, wasn't it? Yeah, I know, but I still loved the ending. I'm getting a little sentimental because this story was like my baby, and now I finally finished it. I want to say thank you to every single person who either read or reviewed or did both. It seriously means so much to me. More than you will ever know.**

**I'm sorry that my updates were sporadic and that I definitely focused a lot of my attention on Jess's character (what can I say? he is actually a very easy character to write), but I hope that you did like the few Rory/Logan moments I threw in there.**

**Anyway, thank you all again so much. Do you think that you could drop me a review? I'm very close to one hundred and I'd love to make it to that point. I'll even give you a cookie. :)**

**So, I guess for the last time (or for the last time unless I decide to write another Gilmore Girls story), I really hope that you enjoyed this story. I had a lot of fun writing it and I'm going to miss it a lot. Thanks for reading fellow Gilmore Girlians...(my new official term for people as obsessed with Gilmore Girls as me :)).**


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